Mumbai: Film star and member of the dissolved Lok Sabha from Mumbai Northwest constituency, Sunil Dutt, today (May 10, 2004) filed a defamation suit against Sena candidate and rival Sanjay Nirupam in a magistrate court.

Elections 2004-Where is India heading...
Political Parties in India

He has charged Nirupam with defaming him in the election campaign. The magistrate deferred the matter to Friday (May 14, 2004) for hearing the complaint and issued a notice to Nirupam.

According to Dutt, Nirupam had campaigned that Dutt had barely attended the Parliament on three occasions in the last five years.

Dutt said the statement was highly defamatory and that Nirupam had misled the voters by doing so. He said he had attended the 13th Lok Sabha 99 times, and he had documentary evidence to prove it.

Outside the court, Dutt and his lawyer Majeed Memon said that Nirupam's statements were defamatory. They also said they had earlier issued a legal notice to Nirupam to modify his statement, but he refused to do so, forcing them to file a defamation suit.