Shimla, June 7 -- The simmering tension between former chief secretaries of Himachal Pradesh escalated on Saturday after former state Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) chairman and chief secretary Shrikant Baldi termed the FIR registered against him on the complaint of recently retired chief secretary Sanjay Gupta false, baseless, malicious, and a blatant misuse of official position.

The sharp rebuttal comes just a day after the police registered the first information report against Baldi on Gupta's complaint.

Gupta accused Baldi of deliberately issuing and widely circulating a defamatory press statement aimed at damaging his reputation, credibility, and standing in public estimation, while creating prejudice against him in the di...