Defamation suit against CM Arvind Kejriwal, Atishi
Aamir Khan | TNN | Mar 16, 2019, 08:49 IST
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal
NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, AAP spokesperson Atishi and two other party leaders were on Friday summoned as accused in a defamation case filed by Delhi BJP, through its vice-president, alleging the AAP leaders defamed the ruling party by saying that it had got 30 lakh names deleted from the voters’ list in the city.
Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Samar Vishal found the allegation referring to the BJP, prima facie defamatory. He said, “There exists sufficient grounds to proceed against all the respondents. Accordingly, Kejriwal, Atishi, Manoj Kumar and Sushil Kumar Gupta are summoned for commission of offence of defamation under Section 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code.”
Delhi BJP vice-president Rajiv Babbar in his complaint said that on December 7, 2018, when he was at the Delhi BJP office, he learnt from people who had gathered there, that Kejriwal had tweeted that BJP got 30 lakh names deleted from the voters’ list. Further, it was alleged that Atishi, Manoj Kumar and Sushil Kumar addressed mediapersons and made similar allegations against BJP, thereby lowering the party’s image in public eye.
The Election Commission (EC), on the other hand, termed the allegations of the AAP leaders as “baseless and without facts”. According to EC, addition and deletion of names was a regular exercise. It came on record before the court that since 2015, EC had been deleting 2.5 lakh non-existent voters’ names, on an average, every year.
Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Samar Vishal found the allegation referring to the BJP, prima facie defamatory. He said, “There exists sufficient grounds to proceed against all the respondents. Accordingly, Kejriwal, Atishi, Manoj Kumar and Sushil Kumar Gupta are summoned for commission of offence of defamation under Section 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code.”
Delhi BJP vice-president Rajiv Babbar in his complaint said that on December 7, 2018, when he was at the Delhi BJP office, he learnt from people who had gathered there, that Kejriwal had tweeted that BJP got 30 lakh names deleted from the voters’ list. Further, it was alleged that Atishi, Manoj Kumar and Sushil Kumar addressed mediapersons and made similar allegations against BJP, thereby lowering the party’s image in public eye.
The Election Commission (EC), on the other hand, termed the allegations of the AAP leaders as “baseless and without facts”. According to EC, addition and deletion of names was a regular exercise. It came on record before the court that since 2015, EC had been deleting 2.5 lakh non-existent voters’ names, on an average, every year.
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