Former railway minister and chairperson of the Trinamool Congress Mamata Banerjee, on Tuesday, filed a Rs 50 crore defamation suit in the Calcutta High Court against a Bengali daily and its editor and publisher for carrying a story based on tehelka tapes making allegations of bribery against her. In the suit, admitted by Justice Dilip Kumar Seth, Banerjee said the published story, wherein one R K Jain claimed to have said he had seventy per cent confidence that she could be made to do any deal, was false and frivolous and made with malicious motive.
Banerjee contended that the daily `Aajkal` in its March-14 news item falsely said that she had accepted bribe and that she was a corrupt person. The former railway minister stated that she had sent a protest letter to the daily and asked the publication to print a declaration that the news was false. On march 17, the daily again published an article, written by its editor, Ashoke Dasgupta, with a headline `` 70 nai, aamra 100% prastut` (not 70, we are 100 per cent ready).
Stating that the contention of the article was to malign her, Banerjee sought Rs 50 crore as damage and also an interim order restraining the defendants from publishing any such article in future.
Bureau Report