NEW DELHI, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- A court in eastern Indian state of West Bengal has summoned the country's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah in a criminal defamation case.
The case was filed by the state's ruling Trinamool Congress party's senior leader and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee.
"The metropolitan magistrate's court Wednesday asked Shah to appear before it on Sept. 28 in connection with the criminal defamation case," a lawyer said Thursday.
In the case, the Trinamool Congress leader has alleged the BJP president had made slanderous statements against him at a rally in Kolkata earlier this month, which tarnished his image.
The complainant had earlier sent a legal notice to Shah, seeking an apology from him for allegedly making the defamatory statements.
Interestingly, the Trinamool Congress is itself embroiled in a number of corruption scandals in the state and facing probe, though it has denied any wrongdoing.
Shah has not yet reacted to the court's summons.
