The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has initiated legal action against Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, issuing a formal notice regarding his recent accusations that the BJP attempted to destabilize his government.
The party has dismissed the claims as entirely false and has demanded a retraction and an unconditional public apology, failing which it has threatened civil and criminal proceedings.
The controversy stems from a speech made by Abdullah last week at a National Conference (NC) gathering in Hazratbal, where he alleged that the BJP was plotting to engineer a split within his party to bring down the administration.
The legal notice demands that the Chief Minister withdraw his allegations in writing, issue a public apology within seven days, and immediately refrain from making any further defamatory statements. The BJP has warned that if these conditions are not met within the stipulated time, it will pursue legal remedies, including filing a defamation suit seeking Rs 100 crore in damages, alongside other civil and criminal actions.
In response, the BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir president and Rajya Sabha MP Sat Paul Sharma, through his advocate Parimoksh Seth, served a legal notice to the Chief Minister. The three-page notice refutes the allegations, calling them “false, baseless and defamatory,” and asserts that they were intentionally made to malign the party’s reputation. The BJP contends that the statements have caused significant harm to its public standing.
The notice specifically references Abdullah’s claim that a senior BJP functionary—who is also a Supreme Court lawyer—was involved in the alleged bribery attempts. Furthermore, Abdullah had linked the offers to the restoration of statehood.
