Sudhir Chaudhary seeks criminal action against Mahua Moitra for false case against him

Zee News Editor in Chief Sudhir Chaudhary has moved Court seeking to initiate criminal action against Trinamool Congress leader and Member of Parliament, Mahua Moitra for filing false criminal defamation against him..Last week, Moitra had filed a criminal defamation case against Chaudhary for alleging that her June 25 speech at the Parliament on the ‘Seven Signs of Fascism‘ was plagiarized..In the application filed under Section 340 CrPC before Metropolitan Magistrate, Patiala House Court, New Delhi, Chaudhary has alleged that the defamation case has been filed on the basis of false averments, misrepresentations, thus playing a fraud on the Court..It is further stated that Moitra “suppressed and concealed” vital information from the Court with the sole objective to harass, embarrass and pressurize Chaudhary..In the application filed through Advocates Vijay Aggarwal and Ayush Jindal, Chaudhary has refuted Moitra’s claim that the source of her speech was duly acknowledged and hence there was no plagiarism..“..the fact as available from the news article of BOOM live is that the poster was never put up at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, as confirmed by the representative of the said Museum.”.It is further added,.“The Non-Applicant in her speech has quoted three other famous individuals that are; Sh. Maulana Azad, Great poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, and the poet Rahat Indori. However, while referring to the thoughts and poems of all three individuals, the Non-Applicant acknowledged them first and then spoke about them in a true and fair manner..However, when the Non-Applicant gave reference to the purported source of the 7 signs it was merely in the form of a disclaimer, at the very end.”.Chaudhary has also submitted that Moitra failed to disclose that her privilege motion in the Lower House of Parliament was already pending consideration by the speaker of the House, Om Birla..It is added that this omission was “intentional and deliberate” as the fact shall have an impact on the legality of Moitra’s complaint before Court..Arguing that Moitra’s conduct in the past was a relevant factor in the present matter, Chaudhary has alleged that in the past, statements were made by Moitra which had a “striking resemblance” to the statements made by others..“On one occasion, the non-applicant in a talk show with a leading journalist narrated a story as her own experience, which story had a striking resemblance to a joke narrated by a stand-up comedian Sh. Kunal Kamra.. the Non-Applicant can be seen to be narrating a story as her personal experience, which story is strikingly similar to a comedy sequence of Kunal Kamra narrated by him..”.The application further states that Moitra’s complete speech was aired at the same prime time hour on July 4 and this fact has been purposely concealed by her in the complaint..Lastly, Chaudhary has also raised an objection on the territorial jurisdiction of the Court in terms of Section 202 CrPC as Sudhir Chaudhary resides in Noida..Based on these grounds, Chaudhary has sought initiation of criminal action against Moitra for offences punishable u/s 193/196/199/202/209/211 of Indian Penal Code..Meanwhile, Zee Media Corporation Ltd has filed a criminal defamation case against Moitra for calling Zee News ‘chor‘ (thief) and paid news.