Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi, has filed a criminal defamation suit against Varanasi-based Vivek Pandey, who introduces himself on his Twitter account as an office bearer of a right-wing group. Gandhi approached the court of additional chief judicial magistrate II, Abhinav Tiwari, against some derogatory comments that Pandey posted through his Twitter handle, ‘@vivekkumar_IND’, on March 29 regarding his late father, Sanjay Gandhi.
In his complaint, Gandhi said that Pandey projected his father in ‘poor light’ and had made an offensive remark about him. This fabricated and false tweet was posted by the accused with malafide intent to defame his late father and his family. The post deeply hurt his sentiments, he added.
A senior lawyer in Pilibhit, Ashwini Agnihotri, said that under the IPC section 500, the accused could be punished for defamation with imprisonment for a term of two years, or with a fine or with both.