Chief minister Kejriwal put on trial in defamation case

BIDHURI HAS CLAIMED THAT KEJRIWAL’S STATEMENTS HAD MALIGNED HIM AND SULLIED HIS IMAGE

NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has been put on trial by a city court for alleged offence of defamation.

The Patiala House Court was hearing a defamation complaint filed by South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri.

Bidhuri has accused Kejriwal of making defamatory statements against him in an interview to a private channel on July 17 last year.

Metropolitan magistrate at Patiala House Court, Harvinder Singh, passed the order and has fixed December 23 as the next date of hearing in the case.

Kejriwal, who was present in the court, pleaded not guilty and said he will contest the charge.

Kejriwal said he had no intention to defame the BJP lawmaker.

The court framed the notice under section 499 and 500 of Indian Penal Code—both the sections deals with offences of defamation.

Bidhuri has claimed that Kejriwal’s statements had maligned him and sullied his image. Kejriwal was granted permanent exemption from personal appearance in the case by the court.

However, he may be asked to appear personally in the case if needed, the court said.

Kejriwal, who was summoned as an accused in the complaint filed by Bidhuri, was granted bail by the court on July 8 after he appeared before it and furnished a personal bond of ₹10,000.

He was summoned as accused by the court in February this year on a criminal defamation complaint filed by Bidhuri, an MP from South Delhi parliamentary constituency, under section 500 (defamation) of the IPC.