Delhi court issues summons to Atishi; ruse to arrest her: CM Kejriwal

Additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM) Tanya Bamniyal sought Atishi’s personal appearance before the court on June 29

A Delhi court on Tuesday issued summons to Delhi minister Atishi in a criminal defamation case filed by Delhi Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leader Praveen Shankar Kapoor for allegedly levelling allegations against the BJP of poaching Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs.

BJP leader Praveen Shankar Kapoor filed a criminal defamation case against Atishi for allegedly levelling allegations against the BJP of poaching AAP MLAs. (HT Photo)

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, however, alleged it was a ruse to arrest the senior minister.

Additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM) Tanya Bamniyal sought Atishi’s personal appearance before the court on June 29. However, the court declined to issue summons to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was also named in Kapoor’s complaint. The court noted that the complaint did not disclose any prima facie case against Kejriwal.

“It appears that alleged accused no. 1 (Atishi) by her spoken words and by words which were intended to be read have made defamatory imputations which prima facie have lowered the reputation of the complainant among t the right- thinking members of the society and the same has been made knowing and intending to harm the reputation of the complainant. Whereas, no prima facie offence is established against alleged accused no. 2 (Kejriwal)”, said the court in its order.

Reacting to the order, Kejriwal posted on X it was plan to arrest Atishi in flimsy, frivolous case. “I had said earlier that they will arrest Atishi next. They are planning to do so now. Complete dictatorship. In completely flimsy, frivolous and false cases, they are arresting ALL leaders of AAP one by one. Every single opposition leader will be arrested if Modi ji comes back to power. AAP is not imp. Saving our dear country from dictatorship is imp.”

Read Here: No urgent hearing on Arvind Kejriwal’s bail extension plea, matter referred to CJI

Kapoor had approached the court, saying that AAP leaders had been trying to project themselves as victims of political vendetta after the arrest of several party leaders in the probe into the now-scapped Delhi excise policy. He said the AAP had been levelling baseless allegations that the BJP was offering bribe to the Delhi MLAs for switching over to the BJP.

Kapoor had alleged that Kejriwal made the charge in a post on X on January 24, which was reposted by Atishi, and were repeated by her during a press conference.

“The statements published/posted on the ‘X’ handle of alleged accused no. 1 [Atishi] as well as utterances during the press conference…in the considered view of this court are squarely an illustration of defamatory statements,” the court said in the order.

The court noted that the words used by Kejriwal in his tweets are vague and not attributable to any identifiable person. It was also noted that it has not been alleged that Kejriwal was present in any press conference or that the defamatory post was posted in his individual capacity.

The court has listed the matter on June 29 when Atishi has been asked to physically appear before the court.