New Delhi: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has been summoned by a local court in Assam to appear for a hearing in a criminal defamation case filed by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, as reported by news agency ANI. Sarma has filed a case against Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia in the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court of Kamrup district. 






"Case filed against Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia by Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma in Chief Judicial Magistrate Court of Kamrup district. The court asked Manish Sisodia to appear before the court on November 19," said Devajit Lon Saikia, Advocate General of Assam.


In June this year, Rinki Bhuiyan Sarma, wife of Sarma, filed a Rs 100 crore defamation case against Sisodia. Sisodia had accused Rinki of malpractice in awarding PPE contracts at market rates. Initially, the Assam CM and his wife had denied these allegations, but later Rinki filed suit in the court of Kamrup Metropolitan District.


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Sisodia, while addressing a press meeting in New Delhi on June 4, had leveled some allegations against Rinki. 


Sisodia, citing media reports, had said that the Assam government procured personal protective equipment kits from other companies for Rs 600, while Sarma placed orders for immediate supplies for Rs 990 to the firms of his wife and son's business partners.


"Himanta Biswa Sarma awarded the contract to his wife's company. He paid ₹ 990 for the PPE kits while others were purchased at ₹ 600 apiece from another company on the same day. This is a huge crime," Sisodia had alleged.


In a tweet, she denied any wrongdoing in the supply of PPE kits to the National Health Mission and said that they did not take a single penny. 


"I did not take a single penny out of this supply. I have always been transparent about my belief in giving back to the society, irrespective of my husband's political standing. My organisation has also supported the NHM in the fight against COVID-19 by donating to the Aarogya Nidhi," Riniki Bhuyan Sharma had said.


Sarma was the Minister of Health and Family Welfare during the first BJP-led state government in 2020.