CM withdraws plea against bail bond
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday withdrew from the Delhi high court his plea challenging a trial court order sending him to jail in a defamation case filed by Union minister Nitin Gadkari.
Counsel appearing for Mr Kejriwal informed a division bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Ashutosh Kumar that he does not want to pursue the matter anymore. The bench allowed him to withdraw the case.
“The request ( to withdraw the petition) is allowed,” the bench said.
Mr Kejriwal’s counsel Rishikesh Kumar made the submission before the bench in the backdrop of the court’s earlier query whether Mr Kejriwal was still interested in pursuing his case.
“I want to withdraw the present petition,” Mr Kejriwal’s counsel told the court.
Advocate Balendu Shekhar, appearing for Gadkari, agreed with Mr Kejriwal’s counsel’s submission and said he has no objection on the request.
During the last hearing on April 27, Mr Kejriwal had told the high court that he was undecided about pursuing his case and had sought time to decide on the issue.
On April 17, the Supreme Court had stayed Mr Kejriwal’s prosecution in two criminal defamation cases, including the one filed by Mr Gadkari, and also sought a reply from the Centre on the CM’s plea challenging constitutional validity of the penal provisions. The high court had on February 23 asked Mr Kejriwal, “Are you still interested in pursuing the case? We think, now there is nothing left in it.”
The bench had further said the petition was “infructuous” while noting that Mr Kejriwal has already furnished his bail bond in the case.
Mr Gadkari had filed a criminal defamation against Mr Kejriwal after AAP named him on a list of allegedly “India’s most corrupt” politicians in the runup to the 2014 general election, following which a trial court in May last year had sent the AAP chief in judicial custody for not furnishing a bail bond.
The AAP chief had refused to furnish a bail bond saying it was not mandatory and he should have been allowed to give a written undertaking instead, and approached the high court. However, on the high court’s suggestion, he had sought bail from the lower court.