Relief To Kejriwal, Sisodia; Delhi Court Grants Bail In Defamation Case Filed By BJP’s Vijender Gupta

Gupta had accused the AAP leaders of "maligning" his image by accusing him of attempting to kill Kejriwal. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal said the allegations of the accused persons were "prima facie defamatory" and referred to Gupta.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia

New Delhi: In a major relief to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Delhi Court on Monday granted them bail in connection to defamation suit filed by Delhi BJP leader Vijender Gupta. The court asked both to furnish a bail bond of Rs 10,000 each. The court set July 25 as the next date of hearing in the case. Gupta had accused the AAP leaders of "maligning" his image by accusing him of attempting to kill Kejriwal. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal said the allegations of the accused persons were "prima facie defamatory" and referred to Gupta. "There exists sufficient ground to proceed against the respondents...Accordingly, Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia are summoned for commission of offence of defamation under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code," the court had earlier said. Gupta, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, had claimed in the complaint that due to widespread circulation of tweets and news reports on the statement of the two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, his reputation was harmed for which they have not expressed any remorse or apologised. He had alleged that the statements of the accused were made with "ulterior motives" to harm his reputation, malign his image and gain some cheap political mileage in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. During the general election, Kejriwal had said in an interview to a Punjabi channel that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to get him killed by his own personal security officer (PSO) in the manner in which Indira Gandhi had been assassinated. Sisodia had accused Gupta of being a part of the alleged conspiracy.