The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani on a plea by Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam seeking quashing of a criminal defamation complaint against him.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi agreed to examine the plea filed by Nirupam and issued a notice to Irani seeking her response into the matter.

The apex court's decision comes after Nirupam's appeal against Delhi High Court's December 20, 2018 order in which it had refused to quash summons issued against him.

Earlier, Irani had filed a complaint against Nirupam for allegedly defaming her during a debate on a private television news channel and the court had framed charges against the Congress leader for using derogatory and indecent language against the Union Textiles Minister.

Irani had alleged in her complaint that Nirupam had questioned her credentials to analyse poll results given her background as a television actress. On Irani's complaint, the court had put Nirupam on trial under sections 500 (defamation) and 509 (uttering any word or making any gesture intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Nirupam had also filed a counter-complaint against Irani, saying she had made defamatory and derogatory comments against him.

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