Workers show up for Tarun Gogoi in court

Taking a cue from Congress president Sonia Gandhi who recently appeared before court in a case, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday appeared before a court in Guwahati in connection with a Rs 100-crore defamation case filed against him by BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Mr Gogoi appeared in the civil judge’s court No. 1 with his Cabinet colleagues and some Congress MLAs while party workers gathered in strength in the court area.

Mr Gogoi told reporters, “The court fixed the next date of hearing for February 8 next when we’ll submit our objections. I am a law-abiding citizen. There is no difference between a chief minister and others.” Mr Gogoi added, “I appeared in court today. There is an allegation made against me. We’ll fight back.”

Mr Sharma’s advocates, who were present in court, said documents were placed before the court pertaining to the status of Mr Sharma as only a witness in the CBI list on the Saradha chit fund scam case and a document from a New Jersey court in the US that there was no mention of Mr Sharma, or for that matter any politician from Assam, in the FBI complaint petition before that US court in the Louis Berger case. Mr Sharma has filed a Rs 100 crore defamation case against Mr Gogoi on the grounds that Mr Gogoi had levelled corruption charges against him in connection with the said two cases. Mr Sharma was a minister in the Gogoi Cabinet before he joined the BJP. The Assam Congress had appealed to party workers through social media to gather in a field in Bhoralumukh area from where Mr Gogoi started his march to court on Monday.