India News | Jharkhand HC Quashes Criminal Proceedings Against Union Minister Tomar

Ranchi, Feb 8 (PTI) The Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday exonerated Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar from charges of defamation filed against him by a Congress leader and quashed the entire criminal proceedings initiated in the matter.

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Congress leader M K Azad had filed the defamation case against Tomar on January 9, 2016 for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Rahul Gandhi while addressing BJP workers in Dhanbad.

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Tomar had been facing the heat for allegedly comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Congress leader with a barb that had left many leaders in the grand old party fuming.

A criminal case was in the Dhanbad civil court by Azad, who, in his petition, said Tomar had made the statement to defame Gandhi.

The court of Dhanbad judicial magistrate had then taken note of Azad's petition and issued summons to Tomar. It subsequently released an arrest warrant for him.

Tomar then had knocked the doors of the high court which then ruled that no coercive steps would be taken against Tomar.

After having heard the matter at length, the high court quashed the criminal proceedings and exonerated Tomar from all charges.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)