New Delhi: A city court on Tuesday (January 28) quashed summons issued to Delhi Chief Minister Atishi by a magisterial court on a criminal defamation case filed by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader.
BJP leader Praveen Shankar Kapoor accused Atishi and former Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of defaming him through her reported claim that the BJP approached several AAP MLAs with offers of cash to bring down the AAP government in the national capital.
Order came on an appeal filed by Atishi
Special judge Vishal Gogne passed the order on an appeal filed by Atishi against the magisterial court order issuing summons to her on Kapoor’s complaint.
The judge observed the submission made by the counsel representing Atishi that the BJP leader was not defamed by her as the alleged defamatory statement was against the BJP and not an individual, news agency PTI reported.
Atishi’s counsel argued before the court that Kapoor was not a victim of defamation and was not defamed by the AAP leader as she made the alleged defamatory statement against the BJP.
Special court stayed proceedings against Atishi in November last year
The special court had on November 22 last year stayed the proceedings against Atishi in the case before the magisterial court.
The magisterial court had issued summons to Atishi in the criminal defamation case on May 28 last year. The magisterial court, however, had refused to summon Kejriwal as an accused in the case.
Atishi was granted bail by the court in the case on July 23 last year after she appeared before the court in pursuant to summons.
Atishi had failed to furnish evidence to support her claim: Kapoor
Atishi reportedly claimed that the BJP contacted AAP’s 21 MLAs and offered them Rs 25 lakh to each of them to switch over to the BJP. Kapoor had moved the court with a criminal defamation complaint accusing her of making false claims about poaching attempts on the AAP MLAs, saying she had failed to furnish evidence to support her claim.
