In a legal notice, facsimiled to the Chief Secretary, Bhatia accused Subrahmanyam of making ``totally false, baseless and slanderous allegations'' against him in an interview to a newspaper on April 17, calling Bhatia a `liar' against whom corruption charges were pending.

The notice added the allegations were made against Bhatia to ``cause harm'' to a reputation he had earned ``through years of honest and diligent work''.

In March, Bhatia, a senior Indian Administrative Service officer, was transferred a few days after he undertook a massive demolition drive against illegal structures in Pune in his capacity as municipal commissioner. The Bombay High Court recently reinstated him after hearing a public interestlitigation against the Maharashtra Government order.

The legal notice issued by Bhatia said if Subrahmanyam did not tender an unqualified apology within 15 days and make a public statement withdrawing the allegations, Bhatia would proceed against him with civil and criminal prosecution for defamation.

It also mentioned that Rs 1,500 was recoverable from the chief secretary towards the cost of the notice.