The court has asked the Delhi Minister to appear before it on June 29 in a suit which alleged that Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi have accused the saffron party of attempting to lure AAP MLAs and bribe them to switch parties are unfounded and defamatory.
The court has, however, refused to summon Arvind Kejriwal.
“Having considered the facts and circumstances, the testimonies of the complainant’s witnesses, the evidence placed on record, it prima facie appears that the alleged accused no. 1 (Atishi) has made specific defamatory statements as aforementioned against the complainant,” the judge said.
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Further, it prima facie appears that the aforesaid defamatory statements made by Atishi have been sufficiently published in the electronic media/social media which may make the right-thinking members of the society against the complainant, the judge said.
It appears that Atishi, by her spoken words and by words which were intended to be read, has made defamatory imputations which prima facie have lowered the reputation of the complainant amongst the right-thinking members of the society and the same has been made knowing and intending to harm the reputation of the complainant, the judge added.
BJP’s Bansuri Swaraj, in a media interaction, stated that the tweet by Arvind Kejriwal on January 27, 2024 is defamatory, as observed by the court.
“Atishi had reposted it. After the tweet, Delhi BJP had filed a case on January 30. Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi did not cooperate in police investigation. Then on April 2, 2024, Atishi again made allegation of Operation Lotus. Court said Atishi has made specific defamatory statement and it was published in the media,” Swaraj said citing the court order.Kapoor said the duo had not furnished any material to substantiate the allegations and that the claims made by the two senior AAP leaders against the BJP are false.(With PTI inputs)
Source: Economic Times
