On Thursday, union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari sent legal defamation notices to Swedish news channel SVT and German broadcaster ZDF for their reports that he allegedly received a luxury bus as part of the Scania bribery scandal, Indian Express reported.

Express reported that Gadkari's office also issued the following statement: "With reference to certain wild allegations levelled by a section of the foreign media dragging the name of the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari and his family, it has already been stated by our office that these accusations are malicious, fabricated and baseless."

Scania had previously admitted "misconduct" including "alleged bribery, bribery through business partners, and misrepresentation". However, it denied sending a bus to Gadkari for personal use, Express reported.

In response to this, Gadkari's office said: "Since the entire episode of the Scania bus was an internal affair of the Swedish company, the statement of the Scania spokesperson has made it clear that Shri Gadkari and his family members have absolutely nothing to do with the purchase or sale of any Scania bus. Nor do they have any thing to do with any firm or individual who might be linked with the purchase or sale of the bus."

The Scania scandal

An investigation by India’s Confluence Media, along with SVT and ZDF, had revealed that the Swedish truck and bus maker Scania paid bribes to win bus contracts in seven Indian states between 2013 and 2016. ANI reported, quoting the investigation, that Scania delivered a luxury bus in November 2016 to a company with ties to union minister Nitin Gadkari’s sons.

SVT, in a report, accused Gadkari of using the company's luxury bus for personal use.