Srinagar- PDP senior leader and former minister Naeem Akhtar Andrabi on Monday expressed “regret” over his stand at presser following which a defamation case was filed against him and then party colleague Nizamuddin Bhat in 2010 by the government for accusing the Chief Minister of the time, Omar Abdullah, of receiving kickbacks of Rs 500 cr in allotting Rattle Power project.
“I am not personally comfortable with a senior political leader standing here as an accused. All I want is that little or more, that we can argue on both sides of the legal divide, whatever damage was done to our reputation, if there is just acknowledgement of that, if he is expressing regret, it is ok,” Omar said after Naeem Akhtar said that he regrets his presence in the press conference.
“For a moment, if he says that he has not made those allegations but his presence substantiated these allegations,” Omar said, adding, “It may be true that he didn’t know what allegations were to be made in that press conference but he did not deny it then or now. In fact till date he has not denied it,” Omar said, adding, “So all we ask is the expression of regret and that he acknowledges that those allegations were not correct.”
Naeem Akhtar then repeated: “I regret my presence and what Nizamudin Bhat said.”
With Naeem Akhtar’s guarded statement in which he expressed the “regret”, Omar Abdullah said there was no need to press the case any further.
“That is fine,” Omar responded. Both Omar and Naeem made the statements in open court.
The development came minutes after Omar and his party leader Nasir Aslam Wani recorded statements as witnesses during the pre-trial stage of the case. Whether or not the court closed the defamation suit was not immediately known.
The defamation case was filed by the government through then the Public Prosecutor before Principal District and Sessions Judge Srinagar, seeking action against the PDP leaders under Sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (Punishment for defamation) of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) for levelling “false and baseless” accusations, at a presser on 25 August 2010, against Omar that he received kickbacks to the tune of Rs 500 crore in the allotment of Rattle power project.
The PDP leaders have been also accused to have made a defamatory allegation regarding exorbitant expenditure incurred on the construction of official residence of the Chief Minister and pilferage of certain priceless antiques from the State Toshakhana.
The then PDP duo had also accused Omar Abdullah-led government of seeking huge money from a famous doctor for establishing a hospital in Srinagar city. Both Omar and Nasir Aslam informed the Principal District and Session’s Judge Jawad Ahmad that Nizamudin Bhat, who since parted ways with PDP, has already tendered an apology in the matter in the floor of erstwhile J& Assembly while the doctor whose name was mentioned during the presser has also made a similar statement during a matter before the High Court.
The trial court had taken cognizance of the complaint on 29 September 2010 and issued process besides bailable warrant in the amount of Rs.20,000 each for securing presence of the PDP leader Naeem Akhtar.
Feeling aggrieved of the proceedings, Akhtar had moved the High Court, seeks quashment of the case. He had prayed the high court to quash the proceedings in exercise of extraordinary and inherent power 561-A CrPC (equivalent to Section 482 of the Central CrPC), to prevent abuse of the process of court and to otherwise secure the ends of justice. However high court had dismissed his plea.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
