New Delhi: A city court on Thursday (February 20) refused to take cognisance of a criminal defamation complaint filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) Bansuri Swaraj and dismissed Jain’s complaint.
Additional chief judicial magistrate Neha Mittal dismissed Jain’s complaint, which alleged that the BJP MP defamed him by making defamatory remarks against him during a television interview on on October 5, 2023.
What did the court say?
“Cognisance declined. Dismissed,” the judge said while dismissing Jain’s complaint.
The court earlier had reserved its verdict and had fixed February 20 to decide whether to take cognisance of Jain’s criminal defamation complaint against Swaraj.
What did Jain claim in his defamation complaint against Swaraj?
Jain claimed in his complaint before the court that millions of people watched the said interview on the television channel and that Swaraj falsely claimed that Rs 3 crore, 1.8 kg gold and 133 gold coins were recovered from his house. The AAP leader further alleged that Swaraj made the remarks to defame him and to gain undue political advantage and she further defamed him by calling him “corrupt” and “fraud”.
What did Swaraj submit before the court?
Swaraj earlier told the court that Jain’s defamation complaint against her was “politically motivated” and that the facts of the case were available in the public domain and it couldn’t be classified as defamation.
“The timing in this case (defamation) is important as the person (Jain) is contesting an election. The petition is politically motivated and it has been filed to gain political advantage,” Swaraj’s counsel earlier submitted before the court.
Earlier, the court had issued notice to Swaraj. on December 16 last year while hearing Jain’s complaint and had asked the BJP MP to file her response to Jain’s complaint.
