Kolkata: Three days after Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra referred to former state chief electoral officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal as a “vote chor” and held him responsible for disenfranchising lakhs of valid Bengali voters in a social media post, the latter on Friday sent a legal notice demanding deletion of the post and an earlier one too, seeking an unconditional apology within 24 hours.Agarwal, currently Bengal’s chief secretary, also sought Rs 10 crore in damages for alleged defamation, along with Rs 50,000 towards legal and incidental expenses.Shortly after, Moitra made another post, saying: “Dear Manoj, Where will you spend the ₹10 crores in jail?”In the notice, reference was made to another post made by the MP six days back, when she described Agarwal and assembly election observer Subrata Gupta as the principal architects of Bengal’s SIR exercise.The notice claimed that Moitra’s remarks have damaged Agarwal’s integrity, professional competence and reputation. It also demanded a written undertaking from the TMC MP that she will refrain from making similar allegedly defamatory statements in the future.Agarwal has denied the allegations through the legal notice and maintained that he had neither engaged in electoral fraud nor committed any unlawful act. The notice stated that Agarwal discharged his official responsibilities in accordance with the law and the Election Commission’s directions.The legal notice carried a warning that failure to comply with the demands or respond to it would invite civil and criminal proceedings against Moitra.
