NEW DELHI: A court has summoned AAP MLA Somnath Bharti as accused in a criminal defamation complaint filed by a woman journalist last year.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal directed the AAP leader to appear before the court on April 10 for allegedly hurling abuses at journalist Ranjhana Dwivedi and calling her with objectionable names during a live television debate show.
“Allegations were prima facie defamatory and referred to Dwivedi making her an aggrieved person... There are sufficient grounds to proceed against Bharti. Accordingly, Bharti is summoned for the commission of the offence of defamation,” the court said.
The offence of defamation entails a maximum of two years in jail.
Later, Bharti told this newspaper that he would honour the court order and added that he would file a counter defamation suit against the scribe.
“Anyone can listen to the tape and see the language and religious tone the other person (journalist) used… It was below the journalistic standards. I respect the court and I will appear in the court, but we will file defamation and a criminal case,” the AAP MLA said.
Dwivedi had alleged that during a TV show held on November last year, she had asked certain questions of public interest and in response, Bharti had replied in a very “defamatory”, “arrogant” and “contemptuous” manner using “abusive” language.
She has further alleged that he had called her an “agent of BJP” and made an objectionable statement against her.
The AAP leader had joined the TV show over the phone to discuss an attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
After the scribe had lodged an FIR, Somnath had later apologised to her in his tweet, saying that his words were not targeted towards her. With agency inputs