Delhi court frames notice against AAP MP in defamation case

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has proceeded and framed notice against AAP MP Sanjay Singh in a defamation case filed by BJP worker Ankit Bharadwaj.
Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Samar Vishal framed the notice under sections of 499 and 500 of the IPC against Singh. Finding sufficient grounds, the court had earlier summoned the AAP leader. It had, however, refused to summon CM Arvind Kejriwal.
BJP youth wing member Ankit Bhardwaj has alleged that he was defamed after Singh, in a television interview, and Kejriwal in a tweet, respectively, named him as the one who assaulted Kapil Mishra on May 10, 2017. In the melee, the attacker, wearing a green T-shirt, had reportedly identified himself as Ankit Bhardwaj, an AAP member. Soon, an AAP volunteer claimed the man was a member of BJP’s youth wing, which was quickly denied by BJP.
When it came to substantiating allegations against Singh, a witness corroborated Bhardwaj's claims of a "defaming interview". The court, however, did not find a similar validation of the allegation against Kejriwal. "In fact there is no witness on behalf of the complainant who says that due to this tweet the reputation of the complainant was lowered in his eyes," judge Vishal observed.
The court was of the view that there was "no specific certificate" in the relevant provision of the Indian Evidence Act to show the genuineness of the tweet. "There is only one certificate under section 65 B of Indian Evidence Act. It primarily covers the CD's and it does not say anything about the tweets. For these reasons, there does not exist sufficient grounds to proceed against Kejriwal," it held.
The interview of Singh, on the other hand, was aired with Bhardwaj's Facebook account that showed his affiliation with the Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha, the complaint alleged. The incident had led to the ruling party being questioned on the incident by different news channels, added Bhardwaj. And the false accusations against him and tarnished his image in front of his colleagues, friends and family. "Within a very short span of time, complainant got numerous calls from media, his party leaders, his relatives and friends and everybody was asking the question as to why complainant slapped Kapil Mishra," he said.