Assam: Court bars Gaurav Gogoi from commenting on Riniki Bhuyan Sharma's Rs 10 crore subsidy row

Guwahati: The court of Kamrup Metro civil judge Nur Jamal Haque on Wednesday barred Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi from commenting on the Rs 10 crore subsidy controversy involving Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, until the next hearing of the case.

Based on a Rs 10 crore civil defamation suit filed by Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, the civil judge granted an interim injunction against Gaurav Gogoi, restraining him from making any statements, uploading, circulating, or disseminating any news in furtherance of the statement he made on September 12 on X alleging that Sarma received Rs 10 crore as subsidy from the central government.

“This order of ad-interim shall remain operative till the appearance of Gaurav Gogoi before the court on the next date,” the court said in its order.

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The petitioner Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, chairperson cum managing director of Pride East Entertainment Pvt Ltd, alleged in her petition that her company has not received a single penny of the subsidy granted by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.

She also stated that in May the company decided not to go ahead with the project which is evident from the Ministry’s show cause notice on May 22 and email on September 5. 

The petitioner referred to many remarks of Gogoi in her injunction application and pleaded with the court that Gogoi had been attacking her and her husband with false and malicious allegations to malign her image before the common public.

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The petitioner also prayed the court to pass an order of ad-interim temporary injunction against Gaurav Gogoi from making/ uploading/ circulating, disseminating any news item in furtherance of the statement made by him.

“In the light of all the discussions, this court without discussing the merits of the dispute finds that the petitioner’s firm has not received the grant of Rs 10 crore even though the said amount was approved by the government under PMKSY. This court finds that the views of Gaurav Gogoi, which were posted on X on September 12 and 13 appear to be defamatory and that fact forces this court to presume that the petitioner has a strong prima facie case upon which the court may purt the same for trial and there is every possibility that the petitioner may succeed in her claim, if the petitioner establishes her claim by adducing trustworthy and cogent evidence in the later stage,” the court added.