Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma Sues Gaurav Gogoi, Bhupesh Baghel & Jitendra Singh; Seeks Rs 500 Crore In Damages

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday filed a defamation case against Congress leaders Gaurav Gogoi, Bhupesh Baghel and Jitendra Singh for levelling "false and malicious" allegations of corruption and land encroachment against him. Sarma is seeking Rs 500 crore in damages from them.

This comes after the Congress leaders held a press conference last week, in which they had alleged that a party investigation revealed that the Chief Minister and his family members occupied nearly 12,000 bighas of land across Assam.

In a post on X, Sarma wrote, "Today, I have filed a defamation case seeking ₹500 crore in damages against Congress leaders Jitendra Singh, Bhupesh Baghel and Gaurav Gogoi for making false, malicious and defamatory allegations against me through a press conference."

Challenging the Congress leaders to prove the allegations against him, Sarma said, “If they have even an ounce of courage or evidence, let them prove every allegation before a court of law. I will not be intimidated by propaganda, coordinated slander, or political theatrics of so called slaves of Gandhi family.”

Earlier, Himanta Biswa Sarma accused Gogoi and his wife Elizabeth Colburn had "deep links" with a Pakistani national named Ali Tauqeer Sheikh. Sarma claimed that Elizabeth had visited Pakistan 9 times while working in two Indian organisations, and Gaurav Gogoi had accompanied her on some of those visits.

Sarma told ANI, "Gaurav Gogoi's wife worked initially in Pakistan in a particular organisation. After marriage, she joined in India. But she continued to be managed by the Pakistani authority, and she used to get a salary from Pakistan through a pass-through mechanism. Sitting in India, taking a salary from an enemy country and submitting a period report on the political development in India, these are matters of great concern. Simultaneously, she visited Pakistan nine times from India. She also took Gaurav Gogoi to Pakistan." 

"The visa was given at the request of the Ministry of Interior (of Pakistan). He stayed there for 10 days. How can an MP from India be invited by the Ministry of Interior? How did he spend those 10 days in Pakistan? These are the questions we have asked. Apart from that, Gaurav Gogoi surrendered the Indian passports of both of his children and facilitated getting British passports. His wife already has a British passport. So, these are the questions we asked. I hope that Gogoi will come clean on these questions," the Assam Chief Minister added.

He also claimed that Elizabeth had passed sensitive information about India to Pakistan. 

Also Read- Did Gaurav Gogoi, Wife Elizabeth, Share Key India Secrets With Pakistan's ISI? Himanta's Explosive Claims