Kamal Nath booked for terming COVID mutant as Indian variant, complaint says remark defamed nation

The police registered the FIR against Kamal Nath based on a complaint filed by BJP Bhopal district president Sumit Pachori.

The Madhya Pradesh Police has registered an FIR against former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Kamal Nath for allegedly spreading panic by terming the Covid-19 mutant as the ‘Indian variant of Corona’. Kamal Nath has termed the FIR an act of desperation by the government to hide its incompetence. He said that any person asking questions is termed a ‘deshdrohi’ as the government does not have answers.

The Madhya Pradesh Crime Branch has booked Kamal Nath under IPC section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) stating that his statements spread misinformation and fear, and was thereby in violation of orders promulgated by the collector under section 144 CrPC. The Congress leader has also been booked under section 54 (Punishment for false warning) of the Disaster Management Act.

The BJP leaders alleged in their complaint that Nath had referred to Covid as the Indian variant of Coronavirus, sullying the image of India and spreading fear among people. They claimed that Nath had said that several Prime Ministers and Presidents around the world have been referring to it as the ‘Indian variant’.

They also claimed that Kamal Nath had disregarded World Health Organisation guidelines on naming Covid variants.

“When I released the actual figures of deaths from Corona in Madhya Pradesh, it sent jitters to those in power? Because they are constantly engaged in the game of suppressing and hiding the statistics of deaths in this epidemic,” said Kamal Nath in a tweet on May 22.

मैं शिवराज सरकार को खुली चुनौती देता हूँ यदि उसमें साहस है तो वह मध्यप्रदेश के सभी मुक्तिधामो व कब्रस्तानो के मार्च माह से अभी तक के पूरे रिकोर्ड व रजिस्टर को सार्वजनिक करें ,मुझे गलत साबित करें।

— Office Of Kamal Nath (@OfficeOfKNath) May 22, 2021

Challenging the government to make public the data related to COVID deaths, he said, “I openly challenge the Shivraj government, if it has courage, then it should make public all the records and registers of Muktidham and Kabristan of Madhya Pradesh till March, prove me wrong.”