Jammu, 13 July

The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the BJP on Monday served a legal notice to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over his claim that the national party had attempted to bribe National Conference legislators with cash and ministerial berths in a bid to topple his government.

Calling the allegations "false, baseless and defamatory", the BJP has demanded a written retraction, an unconditional public apology within seven days, and warned of civil and criminal proceedings if the demands are not met.

The chief minister, while addressing National Conference (NC) workers at Hazratbal last week, alleged that the BJP is trying to bring down his government by engineering a split in his party. He also claimed that an NC MLA from Jammu told him that he was offered Rs 20-30 crore and a ministerial berth to switch sides to the saffron camp.

The notice has been issued through advocate Parimoksh Seth on the instructions of BJP J-K president and Rajya Sabha MP Sat Paul Sharma. It contends that the chief minister's statements have caused serious damage to the reputation and public standing of the BJP and its office-bearers.

A BJP spokesperson informed that the party has sent the notice to the chief minister.

According to the three-page notice, Abdullah alleged that BJP functionaries had approached certain National Conference MLAs from the Jammu region with offers of Rs 20–30 crore, ministerial berths and restoration of statehood in an attempt to persuade them to switch allegiance to the BJP.

It refers to the chief minister's allegation that a senior BJP office-bearer, who is also a lawyer practising in the Supreme Court, allegedly played a role in offering the inducements.

Rejecting the allegations, the BJP has described them as "entirely untrue, malicious and without any factual basis."

The notice states that the allegations were deliberately made to tarnish the party's image and have been widely circulated, thereby causing substantial reputational harm.

The legal notice asserts that the allegations amount to defamation under both civil and criminal law and calls upon the chief minister to withdraw his charges in writing.

"Issue an unconditional public apology within seven days of receiving the notice. Refrain from publishing or circulating any further defamatory material concerning the BJP. Immediately cease and desist from making or repeating any such statements," it said.

In his response, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said he feels honoured to have received a "love letter" in the form of a legal notice from the BJP as it proves that he is a political force they cannot ignore.

"I have received a letter from a lawyer, an electronic copy. I consider this a great honour as I am the only politician in Jammu and Kashmir to have been bestowed with a love letter like this by the BJP. I consider it a mark of respect that I am obviously a political force in Jammu and Kashmir that they cannot ignore," Abdullah told reporters at the National Conference (NC) headquarters here.

"It is symbolic of the way the BJP fights. They take political fights and hide behind the courts. I could have made the same statement and hid behind the assembly. I could have taken advantage of the privileges afforded to me by making the statements in the Assembly which cannot be challenged outside the assembly, but I did not," he said.

The BJP has warned that if the demands are not complied with within the stipulated period, it will initiate appropriate civil and criminal proceedings before a competent court. These would include a defamation suit seeking damages of Rs 100 crore, apart from other legal remedies available under the law.