Journalism of Courage
A court in Pune ruled on Monday that there were sufficient grounds to frame charges against Suresh Jain, former state minister and MLA, in a case of defamation filed against him by social activist Anna Hazare in 2003.
Jain has been in jail for the last three years for his alleged involvement in a housing scam.
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Jain had called a press conference in May 2003 and had levelled corruption charges against Hazare. The allegations were reported in the media subsequently and Jain had even given interviews to the media making the same allegations.
A criminal defamation suit was filed against Jain in a Judicial Magistrate First Class court after that.
Hazare’s lawyer Milind Pawar said that the court has recorded the statements of seven witnesses including five journalists till now.
“Both parties argued before the court on the issue. The court has ruled that there are sufficient grounds to frame charges of defamation against Jain in this case,” Pawar said.
Advocate SK Jain is representing Suresh Jain in this case.
