A Delhi court on Saturday imposed a fine of Rs.2,500 each on former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party colleague Manish Sisodia for failing to appear before it in a criminal defamation complaint filed against them by Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal’s lawyer son Amit Sibal.
Metropolitan Magistrate Sunil Kumar Sharma imposed the fine on the two AAP leaders and then allowed their pleas for exemption from personal appearance for the day.
The court was informed that Mr. Kejriwal is in Bangalore for campaigning in connection with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections while Mr. Sisodia said he had to rush to Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, as AAP leader Kumar Vishwas and other members of the party have been attacked by some persons.
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Meanwhile, AAP leaders Prashant Bhushan and Shazia Ilmi gave an undertaking in the court to appear before it on every hearing.
The matter will now come up on April 19.
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The court had on July 24, 2013, summoned Mr. Kejriwal, Mr. Sisodia, Mr. Bhushan and Ms. Ilmi on the criminal defamation complaint filed by Mr. Amit Sibal saying the AAP leaders had accused him of taking advantage of his father’s position to represent a telecom company in court cases here.