NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has issued summons to BJP city unit president Adesh Gupta and three others in a criminal defamation case filed by Delhi Jal Board and its vice-chairman Raghav Chadha. The case pertains to allegations levelled against the Board for a Rs 26,000 crore scam.
Along with Gupta, Badarpur MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, leader of Opposition in Delhi Legislative Assembly, Vijender Gupta, MLA from Rohini, and Harish Khurana, spokesperson and in-charge of BJP, Delhi Media Relations, have also been summoned. The court was of the view that there were sufficient grounds for proceedings against concerned persons.
"In the present case, respondents held two press conferences, made tweets which were conveyed to public through social media and visible representation and words/statements which were spoken/made in the said press conferences and later published show that allegations of corruption have been levelled against complainants. And as per testimony of Case Witness 1 and Case Witness 3 made on oath, these allegations are false and have been made only to defame the complainants and to gain political mileage," the court said.
According to the complaint, the four BJP leaders maliciously campaigned against the reputation of DJB and Chadha. In January, the BJP leaders in question had held a press conference and accused Chadha and DJB of committing a scam of Rs 26,000 crore and referred to DJB as 'Dalali Jal Board'.
The complaint further stated that the BJP leaders also made defamatory remarks on social media like Facebook and in print media and that the link of the press conference was widely shared. Another press conference was held in the same month by Ramvir Singh and Vijender Gupta where they made defamatory comments, said the complaint.