Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh: A special court in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur on Saturday ordered the registration of a criminal defamation case against Madhya Pradesh BJP chief VD Sharma, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and ex-minister Bhupendra Singh on a petition by Congress' Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha.

In her order, the Special court of Judicial Magistrate First Class Vishveshwari Mishra for MPs and MLAs directed the registration of a defamation suit after prima facie finding sufficient evidence for trial, petitioner's counsel HS Chhabra told news agency PTI.

On April 29 last year, Mr Tankha recorded his preliminary statement in the court in the criminal defamation case.

Mr Tankha, also a senior Supreme Court lawyer, alleged that the BJP leaders tarnished his image by claiming incorrectly that he was involved in a Supreme Court case related to the Other Backward Class (OBC) quota in Panchayat elections in 2021.

The former MP advocate general Mr Tankha in his statement averred that neither had he participated in any court proceedings relating to the OBC reservation nor had he filed any petition on the issue.

Mr Tankha has also filed a civil defamation suit of ₹ 10 crore against Mr Sharma, Mr Chouhan, and Mr Singh.