The Ahmedabad District Co-operative (ADC) bank has slapped a defamation case against Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala and party president Rahul Gandhi in a metro court here on Monday.
The case was filed against what the bank calls false statements made by the two leaders which they further tweeted. “Surjewala had earlier, in a press conference, stated that during Demonetisation, the bank had converted Rs 745 crore worth of old currency for new,” said Ajit Jadeja, counsel for the petitioner.
“The court prima facie found substance in our complaint and accepted it. Further hearing will be held on September 17,” he added.
Jadeja said that Surjewala made accusations against the bank without verifying facts and said that the BJP made 81% gains from the transactions.
“Forget about Rs 745 crore, the bank didn’t even have 7% of the amount he claimed,” said Jadeja. The lawyer said that such type of insinuations led to creating doubts in the minds of depositors.
“It also affects the new account holders who may want to bank with us,” said Jadeja. He said Surjewala then went on to tweet the allegations which was also tweeted by Rahul Gandhi.
“The tweet was brought to the notice of the bank’s chairman by some depositors who raised concerns that it would affect the reputation of the bank,” he said.
The bank plans to use video recordings of the press conference and transcripts as evidence.
