indopia.in
Shimla , March 21 A local court today imposed costs on three Congress leaders including Union Minister Anand Sharma, former Punjab chief minister Amrinder Singh and Motilal Vohra for failing to produce witnesses in separate defamation cases filed against them by the Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal six years ago.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Yashwant Chogal imposed a cost of Rs 500 on the Union Minister of State for External Affairs for seeking adjournment of hearing in the defamation case as the witness in the case was not abvailable.
The case was filed against Sharma by Dhumal after the former allegedly charged him with amassing wealth through corrupt means at a press conference at Barog in Solan district during the 2003 assembly elections in the hill state.
Besides, the court directed Sharma, also a Rajya Sabha member from Himachal Pradesh, to pay dietary expenses to R S Mankotea, the witness in the defamation case.
Satyapal Jain, representing Dhumal in the case, opposed the adjournment sought by Sharma&aposs advocate, arguing that the accused was intentionally trying to delay the matter.
In another similar case of defamation filed by Dhumal against Amarinder Singh and Motilal Vohra for allegedly levelling graft charges against him at a public meeting during the same elections in the state, the CJM&aposs court imposed a cost of Rs 200 each on them for their failure to produce their witness in the court and posted the matter for hearing on May 23.
