‘I am Ready to Accept the Defamation Challenge by Pramod Madhwaraj’ – T J Abraham

‘I am Ready to Accept the Defamation Challenge by Pramod Madhwaraj’ – T J Abraham

Udupi: After two days social activist T J Abraham has come before the media and accepted the defamation legal notice served by the Udupi district minister in-charge Pramod Madhwaraj.

Addressing the media persons at the Udupi Press Club on Saturday, March 24, Abraham said, “I welcome the move by Minister Pramod Madhwaraj. He has sent me a legal notice and asked me to apologize in front of the Media in three days, or else he would file a defamation suit against me. Two days after I received the notice sent by Pramod Madhwaraj, I am here today in front of the media”.

Abraham further said, “I have accepted the challenge by Pramod Madhwaraj and I am requesting him to file the defamation suit against me within a month. He had asked Rupees 10 crore as compensation. As per the court procedure, he should pay Rs 7 Lakh court fee before filing the suit. If he fails to file the suit within a month I will file a suit against Pramod Madhwaraj. I have sufficient documents against him”, he added.

he had no fear of being sued as he is confident over the allegations he made against Madhwaraj. He would never take risks when it came to accusing others unless he has substantive amount of documentary evidences to produce. He said, any fool could quickly understand the hidden truth that the bank has overvalued the mortgaged liabilities pledged by the minister, which is total injustice. In the course of legal procedures, once the minister files the defamation suit, the truth will slowly unfold and the public will know the truth.

He said that 18 cents of land are being estimated for Rs 34.5 crore value, which is not even the price value for the land on MG Road in Bengaluru. One square foot of land is estimated for Rs 19,000. The legal notice issued to him by the Madhwaraj had no valid claims and he did not require to reply to the notice and rendering apology is too far. The bank has offered loan of Rs 193 crore to the mortgaged liability worth Rs 1.1 crore. The mutation register clearly states that the 18 cents of land were mortgaged for Rs 193 crore and it has been done so in 2010-11.

Abraham lamented that if poor farmers would have asked for a loan of mere Rs 50,000, the banks would not trust them. There have been 114 deaths for not being able to repay Rs 50,000 loan. He challenged the minister to file the defamation case, for which he has to pay Rs 7.07 lakh court fee. He would be compelled to submit all required documents and would reveal the truth. He said if Madhwaraj lost the case, he would file a defamation case against Madhwaraj. If he won, he would distribute the amount to the poor farmers.

The minister, in his 2015-16 report submitted to Lokayukta, had declared his movable and immovable property worth a total of Rs 40,27,41,987. Abraham asked why Madhwaraj hid the rest of the amount in the report submitted to Lokayukta.

He said he has also approached the bank for other details, which has asked for 30 days’ time. Besides, he would work on the other people’s representatives and reveal information if he finds blunders.

Abraham had recently alleged that Madhwaraj had mortgaged three acres and eight cents of land in Uppoor village, allegedly valued at just Rs 1.1 crore, and obtained a loan of Rs 193 crore from the Malpe branch of Syndicate Bank in Udupi district. He had alleged that the loan taken was disproportionate to the value of the mortgaged land offered as collateral.