NEW DELHI: A city court today concluded recording the statement of DDCA Vice President Chetan Chauhan who alleged that he and the cricketing body were "defamed" by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal before the media.
The statement was recorded during pre-summoning evidence before Metropolitan Magistrate Abhilash Malhotra in a criminal defamation complaint filed by Chauhan against Kejriwal and suspended BJP MP Kirti Azad for allegedly defaming Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) by making "scandalous" remarks.
He said his image as well as that of DDCA's had been sullied in public eye.
"The statements given by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Kirti Azad were defamatory. They have defamed me and DDCA and also reduced our image in public eye," Chauhan said in his statement through advocate Sangram Patnaik.
The court, after concluding the recording of the former cricketer's statement, fixed the matter for April 29 for recording further pre-summoning evidence.
Chauhan had earlier alleged before the court that Kejriwal had made "defamatory, slandering and incorrect" statements about DDCA before the media.
His petition has claimed that defamatory statements were made by Kejriwal and Azad, who himself is a member of DDCA, "to remain in the public eye and to gain political mileage".
"The aforesaid actions of the accused have severely damaged the credibility and reputation of the complainant in the eyes of thousands of cricket lovers, citizens of India as well as internationally.
"It has always been a serious apprehension, which has come true in this case, where provocative statements, irrespective of their falsity, have entered the realm of the internet and social media, and are being republished and forwarded again and again making it next to impossible to squelch the same," the petition has said.
The plea alleged that Kejriwal had made "scandalous" remarks against DDCA on national television due to which the cricketing body and Chauhan have suffered irreparable loss in the public eye. It has claimed Kejriwal's "false" statements were immediately endorsed and repeated by Azad.
It also referred to Kejriwal's interview to a news channel in which he had allegedly said that apart from the financial irregularities, there were other major wrong-doings in DDCA, including "sex racket".
The plea, while denying all allegations levelled by Kejriwal and Azad, has said they have purportedly given "wholly incorrect and false, baseless and grossly defamatory" statements against the cricketing body.