The defamation suit by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh against BJP leaders was "merely a ploy" to mislead the Congress high command about the corruption charges against him, former CM P K Dhumal's younger son, Arun Dhumal, said today.
"It is an attempt to delay the matter to save his chair. But merely filing a defamation suit would not absolve him of the charges... He has to face probe and come out clean," Arun, who has been sued along with his father, brother and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley, told reporters here.
"It is disappointing that the Chief Minister has failed to reply to the corruption charges against him with facts and documents during the past three months, and now he has filed a case. We will contest it in the court," he said.
Claiming it was an "open and shut case of corruption", he said if the Chief Minister and his MP wife Pratibha Singh resigned and the allegations were referred to the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate, he would file an affidavit in the Lokayukta also.
Singh today filed three defamation cases against Arun Jaitley and other party leaders, accusing them of unleashing a malicious campaign against him and his family through media to tarnish his image.
The Congress leader said he had filed a defamation case under Section 499 of the IPC against Jaitley and former state Chief Minister P K Dhumal, and two separate petitions against BJP MP Anurag Thakur and Arun Dhumal in the court of Shimla Chief Judicial Magistrate Jyotsana Dhadwal.
