NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, facing a defamation case, argued before a court on Monday that political defamation claims have a high threshold, as statements involving political parties are part of public discourse.
Represented by senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, the CM challenged the summons issued to her by a magisterial court based on a complaint by BJP leader Praveen Shankar Kapoor. Gupta contended that Kapoor was not personally defamed by Atishi’s comments, which were aimed at the BJP and not at him directly.
He argued that if the BJP was indeed defamed, the party, as an entity, would have the grounds to file a complaint, but individual members could not claim personal harm.
“The threshold for such cases is very high,” Gupta stated, adding that the case involved a political party, not a private person.
The case stems from allegations made by Atishi, who claimed that 21 AAP MLAs were approached by the BJP with offers of Rs 25 lakh each to switch sides.
Kapoor, who is a BJP spokesperson, filed the defamation complaint, accusing Atishi and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of falsely accusing him of trying to bribe the AAP legislators.
While the magisterial court had earlier issued a summons to Atishi in May, it declined to summon Kejriwal. Atishi was granted bail in July after appearing before the court in response to the summons. The special court has stayed the proceedings and will hear further arguments on December 16.