Amit Shah's son Jay files Rs 100 crore defamation suit against 7 people for The Wire report

Amit Shah's son Jay Amit Shah today filed a Rs 100 crore criminal defamation suit against seven people over the reported growth in his firm's turnover published by the news website, The Wire, on Sunday.

The case was filed in Ahmedabad in the court of Additional chief metropolitan magistrate SK Gadhvi, who has ordered an inquiry into the allegations. The next hearing will be held on Wednesday.

WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR

1. Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta will represent Jay Amit Shah in the criminal defamation case he has filed against The Wire over its story that claimed his company's turnover saw a huge rise after the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014.

2. Union Minister Piyush Goyal said Mehta had sought Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's permission to appear for Jay and the approval was granted. Goyal insisted that the purpose of the story was to defame the BJP and its government by making derogatory and defamatory imputations.

3. Asked about the Congress' attack on the BJP over the claim that the government was in the know of the entire episode as the ASG was given permission even before the story appeared, Goyal said they were aware of the matter as the news portal had sent Jay a questionnaire.

4. "We believe that he (Jay) has been wronged and he must get justice. There is no harm if the best of lawyers appear for him. An ASG can appear in a matter between two private parties after taking permission," Goyal told reporters.

5. Jay Amit Shah has filed the criminal defamation case against seven people including the report's author Rohini Singh, and Sidharth Vardarajan and Sidharth Bhatia, both founding editors of the news portal.

6. The Congress has demanded the resignation of BJP president Amit Shah over the allegedly "suspicious transactions and dealings" of his son Jay Shah's firms for the sake of an impartial inquiry.

7. "We are not levelling any allegations. We are just demanding a fair inquiry into the matter. And for the sake of fair and impartial inquiry, Amit Shah must resign as the BJP president as well as from the Rajya Sabha," Congress leader Anand Sharma said.

8. "When LK Advani's name came up in the Jain hawala diaries, he resigned as party chief as well as from the Lok Sabha. Bangaru Laxman, who was caught on camera taking cash, also resigned. More recently, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari also resigned as BJP chief in connection with Purti scam," Sharma said.

9. In retort, Uttar Pradesh Health Minister and state government spokesman Siddharth Nath Singh attacked the Congress and The Wire, accusing the latter of "supari journalism".

10. Picking on Rahul Gandhi, Singh said, "This child is refusing to grow up" after the Congress vice-president called Shah's son the biggest beneficiary of demonetisation. "This leader fails to come out of his diaper as he does not even pay attention to the fact that the company that he is referring to had in fact closed before the announcement of demonetisation," Singh said.