Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has threatened to take legal action against Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for making 'frivolous and malafide statements' against him and his family.

Issuing the warning in a late Monday night tweet, Chouhan said that he will file a a criminal defamation suit for maximum damages against Gandhi for frivolous and malafide statements.

"Mr @RahulGandhi You have been making patently false allegations of Vyapam to Panama Papers against me and my family. Tomorrow, I am filing a criminal defamation suit for maximum damages against you for frivolous and malafide statements. Let law take its own course now," the social media post said.

Mr @RahulGandhi
You have been making patently false allegations of Vyapam to Panama Papers against me and my family.

Tomorrow, I am filing a criminal defamation suit for maximum damages against you for frivolous and malafide statements.

Let law take its own course now.

— ShivrajSingh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) October 29, 2018

In simultaneous tweet in Hindi, Chouhan mentioned that the final straw in the serious of 'frivolous allegations' by Rahul Gandhi against him and his family was claiming that his son Kartikey Singh Chauhan was an accused in Panama papers.

A lawyer by education and a youth BJP leader, Karitkey also issued a separate warning to Congress chief and demanded an apology within 48 hours.

"Today Rahul Gandhi ji lied by including my name in the list of tainted by Panama Papers. I am distraught that in the name of childish behaviour someone has maligned my and my family's image in public. If he does not issue an apology within 48 hours then I will be forced to take toughest legal action against him (Rahul Gandhi)," Kartikey's tweet claimed.

आज @RahulGandhi जी ने मुझे ‘पनामा पपेर्स’ में संलिप्त होने का झूठा बयान दिया है।मैं व्यथित हूँ कि बचपने की आड़ में सार्वजनिक मंच से मेरी व मेरे परिवार की प्रतिष्ठा खंडित की गई है।
यदि 48 घंटे में उन्होंने माफी नहीं मांगी तो मैं उनपर कठोरतम कानूनी कार्यवाही के लिए बाध्य हो जाऊँगा

— Kartikey Singh Chauhan (@yuva_kartikey) October 29, 2018

On Monday, Congress chief told a rally in Jhabua in poll-bound  Madhya Pradesh that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's son was named in the Panama papers.

Slamming Madhya Pradesh CM, Gandhi said, "Shivraj Chouhan ji Mamaji...udher Chowkidar...Idher mamaji...Mamaji kehte hai...Acha sabse pehle...Mamaji ke jo bete hai...Panama papers main unka naam nikalta hai...Nawaz Sharif ka naam nikalta hai...Pakistan jaise desh main usko jail main daal dete hai...Magar yahah CM ka beta uska naam Panama papers main nikalta hai to koi karavi nahi hoti." (Shivraj Singh, also known as Mamaji, his son has been named in the Panama papers. Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was named in also named and he was ousted from the country. But here no action has been taken place as of now).

Name of the son of CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan surfaced in the Panama papers, but no action was taken. Even a country like Pakistan punished its former PM when he was named in the Panama papers: Rahul Gandhi in Jhabua yesterday. #MadhyaPradesh pic.twitter.com/WJ6OOQ3SCT

— ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2018

'Panama Paper Leaks' was first reported in 2016 where 500 Indians were named in the documents of Mossack Fonseca - a Panama-based law firm known for their services in incorporating firms in offshore jurisdictions. A German daily obtained the details from an unnamed source and later shared it with ICIJ.

Even as the name of Abhishek Singh, Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh, has cropped up in the Panama Papers scandal, there have been no reports of Kartikey Chouhan ever being named in the papers.