President of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of BJP Ravinder Raina filed a damage suit amounting to Rs. 5 crores against former party colleague and ex-legislator Surinder Kumar Choudhary for deliberate defamation.
Ravinder Raina filed a defamation suit in the court of law as Surinder Kumar Choudhary has not given any response to the legal notice served to him a month ago by Ravinder Raina seeking an unconditional apology.
In response to the defamation suit filed by the BJP president, Principal District Judge Jammu Sanjay Parihar has issued notice to Surinder Kumar Choudhary.
In the lawsuit, Raina claimed that he has earned a reputation as a human rights activist and social worker. He dedicated himself to the betterment of the public, including working with terrorism victims across J&K. The plaintiff's journey began in 2014 when he contested and won as an MLA candidate from the Nowshera assembly segment under the Bharatiya Janta Party.
He continued his representation in the State Assembly, voicing concerns for J&K. His dedication led to his appointment as President of BJP J&K in 2018. With an impeccable career, Raina has become a respected political leader with a substantial following across society.
Surinder Kumar Choudhary, who contested against Raina in the 2014 Assembly polls and unsuccessfully contested, seemingly struggled to accept defeat.
Earlier Raina served legal notice of Choudhary
On July 17 this year, Ravinder Raina served a legal notice to Surinder Choudhary through his advocate Navyug Sethi and warned him to file a defamation suit worth Rs 5 crore.
Observing that all allegations levelled by Surinder Choudhary against Ravinder Raina were false and fabricated, the former MLC was asked to tender an unconditional apology.
"You are, therefore, called upon by way of this notice to immediately issue an unconditional and unqualified apology for your acts and omissions, falling which my client shall be constrained to invoke his rights to claim damages to the tune of Rs. 5 Crores and I have instructions to proceed, in the competent court of law against you at your pure risk, responsibility, and costs. This is however in addition to the remedies under criminal law available to my client", the notice reads.
After quitting BJP Choudhary levelled serious allegations on Raina
Surinder Choudhary, who quit BJP on July 11 and joined the National Conference on the same day, has levelled serious allegations against Ravinder Raina.
He accused the Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief of encouraging familism and corruption. Choudhary had lost to Raina in the Nowshera Assembly constituency of Rajouri district in the 2014 assembly polls.
"Goodbye BJP….Ravinder Raina enjoys your Parivharbad and corruption," Choudhary wrote on his social media accounts on July 11, 2023.
Choudhary had quit the Peoples Democratic Party on March 30, 2021. One year after resigning from PDP, Choudhary had joined the BJP in April 2022 in the presence of senior leaders including the party's national general secretary Tarun Chug, and Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina.
