NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has rejected the plea of suspended BJP MP Kirti Azad and two others seeking a discharge in a criminal defamation complaint of an under-19 cricketer's father in the DDCA controversy.
Metropolitan Magistrate Harvinder Singh rejected the plea filed by Azad, former cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi and Sameer Bahadur, who is also associated with cricket, seeking relief in the case. "There exists grave suspicion that imputation(s) was made by the accused number 1 (Surinder Khanna, also a former cricketer) in active connivance/conspiracy of accused persons number 2 to 4 (Azad, Bedi and Bahadur)," the court said, while rejecting the application.
In their application, the three accused claimed they had nothing to do with the alleged offences and said they had only expressed their opinion on corruption and mismanagement in DDCA. They claimed that they had never levelled allegations against any specific person or the complainant and the evidence produced by the complainant were not beyond doubt.
"Merely by sitting in the press conference does not mean that accused 2 to 4 were supporting accused number 1," the plea had said. Advocate Gajinder Kumar, the counsel for the complainant, opposed the application saying the defamatory remarks were made by accused Khanna in conspiracy with the other three accused.
He also said that the press conference, where the imputations were made, was called by Azad. The complainant had alleged that the accused persons had made false statements with "mala fide intention" regarding his son's selection in the team for Vijay Hazare Trophy.