Srinagar, Oct 22: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti Friday served a legal notice to Meghalaya Governor Satyapal Malik for leveling “defamatory” allegations against her.
In a legal notice sent through her counsel Anil Sethi, Mufti is seeking Rs 10 crore as “damages” from the former governor of J&K for making “vexatious, false motivated and incorrect” statements regarding her being a beneficiary of the Roshni Act.
Satya Pal Malik recently claimed that Farooq Abdullah had brought the Roshni Act in Jammu and Kashmir and all politicians including Mehbooba Mufti benefited from the act.
“A video has been circulated in the media where you, while being escorted by the official staff of Raj Bhavan of Meghalaya, are shown holding a press conference. While recounting your days as Governor in erstwhile state of J&K, at 0.23 seconds of the video clip you have alleged that my client took benefit of the state land under the J&K State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001 which is popularly known as the Roshni Act and that on verification, you found the above allegation to be correct,” reads the legal notice.
The notice accuses Malik of defaming Mehbooba for “scandalous” and “serious” allegations leveled against her.
“By conducting yourself as an ex-Governor of J&K state and making utterances about the benefit being taken by my client under the Roshni Act, which are not only false and incorrect, you have defamed my client and have leveled scandalous and serious allegations against her with the sole objective of tarnishing her otherwise politically neat and clean image,” states the notice.
The notice underscores that all the allegations in the video clip were “vexatious, false, motivated and incorrect” and this fact was known to Malik too.
“It is a fact that my client has never been beneficiary of state land under Roshni Act and has never taken any aforesaid land, which now stands quashed and repealed. By making such false utterances, you have tarnished the image of my client and have defamed her and lowered her reputation in the estimation of the public,” the notice states.
The notice underlines that no amount of money could compensate the former chief minister for the loss of reputation and good name which had been caused by the conduct of Malik.
“Yet my client has decided to sue you for claiming compensation and damages for loss of reputation and good name earned by her and for establishing that the allegations leveled by you are incorrect and false and have been leveled at a juncture which hints at a political collusion behind, the speech made by you,” the notice says.
“By virtue of this legal notice, I call upon you to pay compensatory damages to my client (Mehboooba) to the extent of Rs 10 crore within 30 days of receipt of this legal notice. (This amount of damages and compensation is not supposed to be utilised by my client for her personal gains and benefits but shall be donated and utilised for the public good),” the notice says.
The counsel has asked Malik to treat the legal notice in terms of Section 80 CPC.
“Further legal consequences will follow in case of non-compliance of the demand made herein,” the notice reads.