E-Paper
Defamation case: Mansa court grants bail to Bhagwant Mann
Chief judicial magistrate directs CM Mann to appear before the court on next date of hearing on December 5
BATHINDA: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann appeared in a Mansa court on Thursday in a defamation suit filed by a former MLA Nazar Singh Manshahia.
Mann was directed by chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Atul Kamboj to file a bail bond of ₹50,000 before granting him bail in the case. Manshahia’s lawyer GS Manshahia said the CJM directed Mann to appear before the court on the next hearing on December 5.
The former MLA, who left the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Congress on April 25, 2019, had complained that barely two days after the development, the then Sangrur MP, Mann, had held a press conference and accused him of switching parties for money and on the assurance of getting the chairmanship of the Punjab Pollution Control Board.
When Manshahia challenged Mann to either prove the allegations or apologise, he got no response. Acting on Manshahia complaint, a case was registered under Sections 500 (defamation), 34 (act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 66E, 67 of the Information Technology Act in a Mansa court on July 30, 2019.
The former MLA was also present in the court. It was Mann’s first appearance in court in the case.
Later, Mann told media that he had faith in the judiciary and that the people of Punjab had reposed faith in his leadership.
He said political opponents were abusing legal provisions to harass the AAP leadership and denting the image of top party leaders by levelling frivolous charges to settle political scores.
