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Guj court dismisses Arvind Kejriwal’s plea against summons in defamation case
The Ahmedabad court ruled that the magistrate initiated the legal process against Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh after a thorough evaluation of the facts
AHMEDABAD: A sessions court in Ahmedabad on Thursday dismissed a revision application filed by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh challenging the summons issued to them by a magistrate court in connection with a defamation case filed against them by Gujarat University.
Additional sessions judge JM Brahmbhatt said the magistrate decided to take cognisance of the complaint and initiated the legal process against them after a thorough evaluation of the facts and circumstances of the case, as well as the digital audio-video footage.
“Hence, considering the facts of the present case, the magistrate has reached the conclusion of subjective satisfaction and issued the process after analyzing and appreciating the material on record, which is neither patently illegal nor erroneous. Thus, in these circumstances, this court does not find any merit in the present revision application,” the judge said in his order.
The defamation case was filed over Kejriwal and Singh’s comments after the Gujarat high court in March this year set aside the chief information commissioner’s order asking the university to provide information on Modi’s degree. The high court slapped a ₹25,000 fine on Kejriwal who had sought the information.
Gujarat University said the comments by Kejriwal and Singh were “sarcastic” and “derogatory”. They have been accused of making these comments at press conferences, which were then posted on Twitter targeting the university over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s educational qualifications.
They were summoned by a metropolitan court in Ahmedabad to face trial in the criminal defamation case lodged by Gujarat University, citing alleged derogatory remarks.
The two AAP leaders first moved city civil and sessions court in Ahmedabad, which rejected their appeal. They next approached the Gujarat high court, and then the Supreme Court, which re-directed them to the high court. On August 29, the high court transferred the revision application to a newly assigned court and gave it 10 days to decide the appeal.
