Court summons BJP’S Sirsa in defamation case filed by Jain
NEWDELHI: A city court on Tuesday issued summons to BJP MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa in a criminal defamation complaint filed by Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain.
In the previous hearing, the court had issued summons to former water minister Kapil Mishra. Both, Sirsa and Mishra, have been directed to appear before the court on January 20, 2018.
Mishra was sacked from his minister’s portfolio by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on May 6. The party said that Mishra had failed to resolve Delhi’s water problem. But Mishra had claimed that his removal came on the day he had shared details of the alleged ₹400-crore water tanker scandal report with the chief minister.
Jain in his petition also alleged that Mishra made a baseless and defamatory statement against him before the media on May 7.
In a press conference after the sacking, Mishra had claimed that he saw Jain giving ₹2 crore to Kejriwal. Jain accused Sirsa of defaming him on May 9 by alleging that the minister was indulging in ‘circulating huge amounts of illegitimate money within the party.’
The health minister filed two criminal defamation complaints in the court against Mishra and Sirsa on May 19.
The maximum punishment, if convicted for criminal defamation is two years.
The health minister in his petition has said that making a statement on the basis of “hearsay” without any proof or evidence supporting it, is not only unbecoming of an MLA, but also a crime of defaming a person.