Sanatan Sanstha files Rs 10 crore defamation suit against The Quint

Sanatan Sanstha has filed a civil defamation suit seeking compensation of ₹10 crore from news website The Quint, referring to an article about the Sanstha published by the portal. The organisation is objecting to an article published on April 12 this year by The Quint, titled The Sanatan Sanstha: Of Spirituality and Pseudo-Science.

The article written by Pallavi Prasad had described Sanatan Sanstha as the most mysterious, hardline right-wing Hindu organisation in India. It said that the Sanstha is known for its hardline, often violent stance on Hinduism. The article carried many such criticisms about the organisation.

In a note published on its website, Sanatan Sanstha said that The Quint has caused infinite damage to the organisation. Shri. Virendra Marathe, the managing trustee of  Sanatan Sanstha, had sent a legal notice to the news website on 21^st May 2018 demanding monetary compensation for the defamation. The notice was sent through its honorary legal advisor Advocate Ramdas Keskar. But the demands were not met by The Quint.

‘द क्विंट’ या संकेतस्थळाचे संपादकीय प्रतिनिधी, मालक, संपादकीय संचालक आणि वरिष्ठ संपादक यांच्या विरोधात मानहानी भरपाईसाठी न्यायालयात दावा दाखल https://t.co/YeIUWXO18L

— Sanatan Sanstha (@SanatanSanstha) November 18, 2018

Therefore, the organisation has decided to file a civil defamation suit against Editorial Representative of the website Pallavi Prasad, President and Editorial Director Sanjay Pugalalia and Senior Editor Nishtha Gautam at a local civil court at Ponda in Goa. The organisation is demanding ₹10 crore as compensation for the alleged defamation. The Sanstha has said that Virendra Marathe has filed the suit though pro-Hindutva advocates Gajanan Naik, Nagesh Joshi-Takbhate, Ms. Deepa Tiwadi, Ms. Aditi Pawar and Ramdas Kesarkar.

Promoter of The Quint Rakesh Bahl is also being probed by the Income Tax department over the allegations of laundering ₹100 crore of black money. As part of the investigation, offices of the Quint were searched by the Income Tax department last month, along with residences of Bahl.