NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Monday summoned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia for a hearing on a criminal defamation complaint filed by BJP leader Vijender Gupta, on July 16.
Gupta had accused the AAP leaders of “maligning” his image by accusing him of attempting to kill Kejriwal.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal said the allegations of the accused persons were “prima facie defamatory” and referred to Gupta.
“There exists sufficient ground to proceed against the respondents. Accordingly, Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia are summoned for commission of offence of defamation under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code,” the court said.
Gupta, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, has claimed in the complaint that due to widespread circulation of tweets and news reports on the statement of the two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, his reputation was harmed for which they have not expressed any remorse or apology.
He has alleged that the statements of the accused were made with an “ulterior motive” to harm his reputation, malign his image and gain some cheap political mileage in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
During the general election, Kejriwal had said in an interview to a Punjabi channel that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to get him killed by his own personal security officer (PSO) in the manner in which former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had been assassinated.
Sisodia had accused Gupta of being a part of the alleged conspiracy.
In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and AAP were at loggerheads, sniping at each other and trading barbs.
After being routed in all seven Lok Sabha constituencies in the national capital, the BJP has stepped its attack on Kejriwal and his party colleagues with an eye on wresting power from the AAP in the Assembly elections next year.