AJP to file defamation case against landlord for 'slander' & 'lies'

GUWAHATI: The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) has denied the allegations made by Amit Baruah, the proprietor of the building that is the head office located in Guwahati’s Lamb Road that it is yet to pay the electricity bill.

Jagadish Bhuyan, the General Secretary of the party, says, “No separate meter has been installed in the building and we have already paid him a sum of Rs. 3 lakh beforehand. No official agreement was made earlier. And if you go through the agreement, no water charge has been mentioned.”

Bhuyan has also fumed that "this is 100% fabricated news as we have given advance and are footing rent on a monthly basis."

The AJP party intends to file two defamation cases, one civil and another criminal against Amit Baruah, the landowner of the building for not issuing a legal notice to the party.

The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) party in Assam has allegedly not paid the electricity bill for its central head office located in Guwahati’s Lamb Road area. The proprietor of the building, Amit Baruah, has stated that the AJP has been unable to pay a sum of Rs. 22,000 electricity bill.

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Ziaur Rahman, spokesperson of the AJP party, said that Baruah is attempting to charge the party an exaggerated amount which was never a part of the agreement signing last September.

"We had rented the quarter for 8 months. Every month, we pay the rent on time. We paid the rent for the month of April of the 9th of the month. In regards to the electricity bill, we were meant to pay the bill on the condition that he install a separate meter for us. However, a separate meter was not installed. Our party workers also urged Baruah to install a meter as we are a political party and need to audit our expenses. Recently, amid the COVID-19 lockdown, he sent us a bill that showed Rupees 1,333 per month as water bill...Rupees 450 rupees per month was also quoted as a fixed charge, violating the terms of the agreement. In total, he was charging us a sum of Rupees 22,736," he said.

Expressing distress at the publicization of this news on various media platforms, Rahman added that Baruah has attempted to defame the regional party.

"We are extremely upset at this turn-of-events as none of our senior leaders were informed of this supposedly pending bill and the entire episode happened at a time when all of our office staff have been staying at home due to the COVID-19 crisis. Moreover, he (Baruah) has named all our leaders and spoken about them in an insulting manner," he added.

Amit Baruah, the owner of the AJP's office building told the media that the AJP has not been able to keep its end of the bargain.

“I had leased them the quarter for a period of 11 months for a sum of Rupees 3 lakh,” Baruah informed media, adding that he is yet to receive a sum of Rupees 22,000 for electricity.

“In the first month, they paid Rupees 1,250 as electricity bill and have not paid a single penny since then,” he rued.

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