Delhi Court Dismisses Pleas By AAP Leaders Raghav Chadha, Satyendar Jain Against Summons In Defamation Case By BJP Leader

A Delhi Court yesterday dismissed the pleas moved by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Raghav Chadha and Satyendar Jain against the summons issued to them in a defamation case filed by BJP Leader Chhail Bihari Goswami.

Special Judge MK Nagpal upheld two orders passed by a magisterial court last year summoning the AAP leaders and directing serving of notices of accusation under Section 251 of Cr.P.C. upon them for commission of the offence of defamation.

The court observed that the two orders passed on February 16, 2022, and November 09, 2022 were “perfectly correct and legal on facts as well as in law.”

“As a result of the above discussion, both these criminal revision petitions are dismissed and the impugned orders dated 16.02.2022 and 09.11.2022 are upheld being perfectly correct and legal on facts as well as in law. The subsequent notices of accusations served upon the revisionists in pursuance of the above order on summoning dated 09.11.2022 are also accordingly upheld,” the court said.

Both Chadha and Jain had challenged the order passed on November 09 last year wherein the separate applications filed by all the accused persons seeking their discharge from the case were dismissed. It was also ordered that notices of accusation be served upon them for the offence of defamation.

Additionally, Chadha challenged the earlier order passed in February last year summoning him and other AAP leaders Satyender Jain, Aatishi Marlena, Raghav Chadha, Durgesh Pathak and Sourabh Bhardwaj in the case.

The complainant Chhail Bihari Goswami alleged that with the common intention to win the upcoming Municipal Elections, the AAP leaders were misleading the general public and were allegedly creating negative image of councilors of BJP including himself.

He alleged that the AAP led Delhi Government, with dishonest intention and in order to gain political mileage in the Municipal Corporation Elections, was not releasing the consolidated due funds for sum of Rs. 13,000 Crores to the three Corporations so that developmental work could not be undertaken.

The complainant alleged that Durgesh Pathak in furtherance of the criminal conspiracy alongwith other accused persons, held a Press Conference in which he made false and misleading statement which was defamatory in nature.

According to the complainant, Pathak claimed that there was a corruption of Rs. 1400 Crores in the North MCD and that the same was illegally collected by BJP councillors.

It was averred that the said statement was live streamed on the Facebook Page of Aam Aadmi Party and was published in newspapers. The complainant alleged that Pathak had also tweeted the defamatory statement that BJP leaders had misappropriated the salaries of employees worth of Rs. 2500 Crores.

Furthermore, complainant also alleged that Satyender Jain had made similar defamatory statement which was published in Danik Jagran newspaper. Similar allegations were made against other accused persons.

It was thus the complainant's case that the accused persons with dishonest intention to lower the moral and intellectual character of the complainant in the eyes of general public had made defamatory imputation which were published widely in the print and electronic media.

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