Court ends defamation case after Kapil Mishra’s apology to Satyendar Jain

In a press conference held in 2017, Kapil Mishra, who was then a cabinet minister in the AAP government, had accused Satyendar Jain of handing over a bribe of Rs 2 crore to Arvind Kejriwal.

A Delhi court has closed a criminal defamation case against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kapil Mishra after he tendered an unconditional apology to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and health minister Satyendar Jain, who had filed the complaint over Mishra’s remarks against him and chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in 2017.

The case was closed on Wednesday after Kapil Mishra agreed to tender an unconditional apology. (Sushil Kumar/HT PHOTO)

The case was closed on Wednesday after Mishra agreed to tender an unconditional apology before additional chief metropolitan Magistrate, Vishal Pahuja.

In a press conference held in 2017, Mishra, who was then a cabinet minister in the AAP government, had accused Jain of handing over a bribe of Rs 2 crore to Arvind Kejriwal.

“It is submitted by the accused (Mishra) that he is ready to make a statement before the court, tendering an unconditional apology. Complainant (Jain) submitted that in case the accused gives his statement before the court, he shall withdraw the present complaint,” the court recorded.

After recording the statements of Mishra and Jain, the court disposed of the defamation complaint as withdrawn.

If convicted, the offence of defamation entails a maximum punishment of two years.

Reacting to the development, Jain said Mishra’s statements were “baseless and politically motivated” in nature and it had caused him “distress”.

“Kapil Mishra had said objectionable things against me but he could never provide any proof. That is why I had filed a defamation case against him. It caused me distress. I hope Kapil Mishra does not repeat such things after the unconditional apology. His allegations were baseless and politically motivated,” Jain said in a press conference on Thursday.

AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said, “Kapil Mishra has exposed how he was taking orders from the BJP. He should immediately make the apology public through his social media handles as he has assured the court. If he doesn’t, he should be sent to jail.”

Mishra had then claimed Jain “settled a land deal worth Rs 50 crore of Kejriwal’s relative”. On social media, Mishra went on to state that Jain would go to jail in a few days. He was removed from the cabinet and party membership.

In August 2019, Mishra, who was an MLA from Karawal Nagar constituency (representing the AAP), was disqualified from the Assembly.

In the same year, he officially joined the BJP and unsuccessfully contested the Delhi assembly election with a BJP ticket from the Model Town constituency in February 2020.