Bhubaneswar, Mar 7 (IANS): Former Odisha agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy Wednesday said he might file a defamation case against the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) chief for his remarks on the gangrape of a woman in the state.

"I am consulting my lawyers. I may file a defamation case against the NCSC chairman," Maharathy told IANS.

The former minister's statement came two days after NCSC chairman P.L. Punia, during his visit to the state, had said that Maharathy is a party to the crime and should be arrested.

The minister said he is innocent and his wife had already filed a defamation suit of Rs.10 crore against a local news paper, for falsely implicating him in the incident.

A 19-year-old was allegedly gangraped Nov 28 last year by some people near her village Arjunagoda, barely 10 km from the capital city.

The victim's family had alleged that the rapists were the same people who had assaulted her in 2008, and against whom she had put up a determined fight in court in a molestation case.

The shocking incident came to light recently when the girl was denied proper treatment at a hospital and some journalists reported on her.

The incident also created a political storm, prompting the agriculture minister to resign Jan 19 on moral grounds after the opposition and the girl's family accused him of protecting the attackers.

The incident is being investigated by the crime branch of the state police and a one-man judicial commission, headed by a retired judge of the Orissa High Court.

The crime branch has already arrested four people and conducted lie-detector polygraph tests on them.

A senior official of the crime branch Wednesday said the investigation in the case has reached the final stage and a charge sheet will be filed soon.

Meanwhile, the condition of the woman, who slipped into comma after the alleged gang rape, continued to be critical at Sriram Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack, about 26 kms from here.