Hindustan Times (Delhi)

Gupta threatens to sue his detractors

- HT Correspond­ent htreporter­s@hindustant­imes.com

AAP RS NOMINEE Sushil Gupta sends legal notices to Kapil Mishra and BJP’S Parvesh Verma, Harish Khurana for defamatory comments THE NOTICE DEMANDED

A COMPENSATI­ON OF

₹5 CRORE FROM THE

THREE LEADERS CM Arvind Kejriwal ignored his core team and party workers. He nominated ‘unknown’ and wealthy persons, this certainly raises doubt. No notice (by Sushil Gupta) has been served so far.

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha nominee Sushil Gupta on Thursday sent legal notices to sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders — Parvesh Verma (west Delhi MP) and Harish Khurana ( Delhi BJP’S spokespers­on) — demanding an apology for making defamatory remarks against him.

The notices said that Gupta would file criminal and civil suits against the trio if they fail to tender unconditio­nal apology. It also said they maliciousl­y defamed Gupta hence they are liable to pay ₹5 crore as damages and compensati­on.

“They were making baseless allegation­s against me so I sent defamation notices seeking ₹5 crore as damages from them. I will see them in court,” Gupta told Hindustan Times.

While Khurana said he had received the notice, Mishra and Verma said they had not received it yet.

The notices sent to the three leaders said that the allegation­s such as ‘the ticket of Rajya Sabha has been sold to Gupta for ₹70 crore’ and ‘Gupta is an industrial­ist who converts black money into white’ had not only “resulted in hurting his reputation but has also caused him distress and humiliatio­n.”

The AAP nomination­s for the Rajya Sabha elections announced on Wednesday evoked sharp reactions from opposition parties as well as former party members. Both the Congress and the BJP mocked the AAP for ignoring party veterans while former party members and India Against Corruption colleagues called it the ‘final blow’.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) nominated senior leader Sanjay Singh, Delhi-based businessma­n Sushil Gupta and chartered accountant Narain Dass Gupta as its Rajya Sabha nominees.

Verma told Hindustan Times that he had not received any notice yet. “Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ignored his core team and party workers. He nominated ‘ unknown’ and wealthy persons, this certainly raises doubt. I have said this on television. No notice has been served so far,” said Verma.

However, Khurana said this (notice) is an attempt to muffle dissent and an appropriat­e reply would be given to Gupta. “The notice says that I made defamatory remarks and allegation­s on news channels and social media with a deliberate and malafide intention. I am not scared of such tactics. In democracy, I have right to express my opinion. If he says he will see us in court, then I would certainly file my response in court,” the Delhi BJP leader said.

Mishra also said if speaking truth is defamatory, I would repeat it a hundred times. “I have not received the notice yet but I came to know about this through news reports. My reply is that I would not run away. I am not afraid of any court case. The only qualificat­ion for his nomination is his wealth,” Mishra said. Total assets Self: Wife: Total assets Self: Wife: Self: Wife:

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