Jabalpur (MP), Jul 2 (IANS): Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee President Kamal Nath has sent legal notices to BJP Vice President Prabhat Jha and MP state President VD Sharma for accusing him of favouring Chinese firms by reducing import duty.

Nath's counsel Varun Tankha said, "The legal notice drew the attention to the defamatory statements by both the BJP leaders against Kamal Nath widely circulated in various newspapers and electronic media on June 26 and 27, 2020." The notice was sent on Tuesday.

The notice sought reply within seven days of its receipt, else Kamal Nath will be constrained to initiate appropriate legal action.

Tankha said, "No public record supports any part of these false allegations." The decisions Kamal Nath took during his tenure as Union Minister for Commerce and Industry from 2004 to 2009 were as per the norms.

During Nath's tenure as Union Minister, the anti-dumping duty against Chinese companies was higher which goes to suggest that Nath never favoured any Chinese company or for that matter any country, Tankha said.

It is a general practice in the Union government that any increase or decrease of tariffs is a concerted effort taken after Cabinet approval and much scrutiny, he said.

The BJP leaders made baseless allegations about the Chinese firms transferring illegal amounts to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Tankha added. The accusations of Sharma that Nath took all the money for development works for Chhindwara district is also baseless, he said.

"No public record supports any part of these false allegations," Tankha said.

The legal notice said, "The statements (of BJP leaders) are purely an offence mechanism to protect your party's (BJP) politically reducing turf in the wake of upcoming by-elections of 24 constituencies in Madhya Pradesh."