# Bhopal court fines Digvijaya Singh Rs 1,000 in defamation case 2026-08-21T00:21:24+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The special MPs-MLAs court in Bhopal has imposed a cost of Rs 1,000 on Congress leader Digvijaya Singh in a criminal defamation case filed by BJP MLA VD Sharma. Singh had alleged in 2014 that Sharma acted as a middleman in the Vyapam recruitment scam. The court formally framed charges under IPC sections 499 and 500. The cost was imposed because Singh's lawyer failed to appear for cross-examination of a witness despite repeated extensions of dates. Singh's advocate said the cost was only for the witness expenses, not for the allegations themselves. Sharma's lawyer confirmed the court instructed cross-examination to be completed at the next hearing. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The Vyapam scam, which involved large-scale irregularities in recruitment and admission exams in Madhya Pradesh, was one of India's biggest corruption scandals. Over 2,000 people were chargesheeted, and the case also saw several deaths of witnesses and accused, leading to a Supreme Court-monitored SIT probe. Digvijaya Singh’s allegations against VD Sharma, a BJP MLA, are part of the political fallout. The defamation case now hinges on Singh’s ability to cross-examine the witness, if he fails to appear at the next hearing, the court may proceed to trial. A conviction under IPC sections 499 and 500 carries a maximum of two years in jail or a fine, or both. ## Coverage - freepressjournal.in Straight court report: led with the cost imposed, not with politics or party blame This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Bhopal, Digvijaya Singh, VD Sharma Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/bhopal-court-fines-digvijaya-singh-rs-1000-in-defamation-case/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/bhopal-court-fines-digvijaya-singh-rs-1000-in-defamation-case/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/