Ram Mandir Donations Row: SP Serves Legal Notice on BJP MP Nishikant Dubey for Allegedly Defaming Akhilesh Yadav
SP serves legal notice to Nishikant Dubey over Akhilesh Yadav posts in Ram mandir donations row.
Escalating the political confrontation over the Ram Mandir donations row, the Samajwadi Party has served a legal notice on BJP MP Nishikant Dubey for allegedly defaming party chief Akhilesh Yadav by linking him to one of the accused in the case, namely Ramshankar alias Tinnu Yadav, through posts on X.
The notice seeks a public apology and warns of civil and criminal proceedings if Dubey fails to comply within two weeks.
Issued by advocate Krishan Kanhaya Pal, National President of the Samajwadi Adhivakta Sabha, the notice alleges that Dubey amplified false, defamatory and casteist content targeting Akhilesh Yadav by sharing a post originally published by X user Saravanan Prasad Balasubramanian (@BS_Prasad).
According to the notice, the post, published on July 4 at 9.05 pm, contained "false, misleading and defamatory allegations" against the Samajwadi Party chief without any judicial finding or verifiable evidence. It alleges that Dubey reposted the content from his verified X account, resulting in its wider dissemination.
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The notice contends that, as a sitting Lok Sabha MP and senior BJP leader, Dubey occupies a constitutional office and commands considerable public influence. It states that his statements are likely to be accepted as true by party workers and the general public, making him duty-bound to exercise restraint and uphold parliamentary dignity instead of circulating unverified allegations against political opponents.
According to the notice, Dubey's repost caused widespread dissemination of false claims, hurting the sentiments of millions of Samajwadi Party workers and supporters and creating the potential for animosity and unrest in society. It further alleges that the remarks were not only defamatory but also casteist because Akhilesh Yadav belongs to the Other Backward Classes (OBC). On that basis, the notice claims Dubey is liable for defamation under Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in addition to civil liability.
Pal, who describes himself as the National President of the Samajwadi Adhivakta Sabha and an active member of the Samajwadi Party, states that his public identity is closely associated with Akhilesh Yadav and the party. The notice claims that any attack on Yadav inevitably affects his own reputation as well as that of the party's workers and office-bearers.
It further states that after coming across Dubey's post on July 6, Pal found that the allegations had been widely viewed by millions of users on X and were aimed solely at maligning Akhilesh Yadav and the Samajwadi Party for political vendetta. The notice claims the post lowered the standing of both Yadav and the party in the eyes of the public and caused reputational harm to those associated with them.
The notice also alleges that Dubey intentionally spread hatred against the Samajwadi Party and its national president by sharing the impugned content. It characterises the act as one intended to incite hostility against the party and describes the nature of the remarks as "seditious" insofar as they allegedly promoted hatred against the Samajwadi Party and its leadership.
Calling upon Dubey to remedy the alleged harm, the notice demands that he issue a public apology in favour of the Samajwadi Party and Akhilesh Yadav within two weeks of receiving the notice. It states that failure to do so would compel the sender to initiate appropriate civil and criminal proceedings against the BJP MP at his own costs and consequences.