A Delhi court has summoned AAP MLA Somnath Bharti as accused in a criminal defamation complaint filed by a woman journalist last year.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal asked Bharti to appear before the court on April 10 for allegedly hurling abuses at Ranjhana Dwivedi and calling her with objectionable names during a live television debate show.
“Allegations were prima facie defamatory and referred to Ms. Dwivedi making her an aggrieved person... There exists sufficient grounds to proceed against Mr. Bharti. Accordingly, Mr. Bharti is summoned for commission of offence of defamation,” the court said.
The offence of defamation entails a maximum of two years in jail.
Objectionable statement
Ms. Dwivedi, in her complaint, has alleged that during a TV show held on November 20 last year she had asked certain questions of public interest and in response to them, Mr. Bharti had replied in a very “defamatory”, “arrogant” and “contemptuous” manner using “abusive” language.
Ms. Dwivedi has further alleged that he had called her an “agent of BJP” and made objectionable statement against her.
Mr. Bharti had joined the TV show over phone to discuss an attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
An FIR was registered on November 21, 2018.
The legislator had later apologised to her in his tweet, saying that his words were not targeted towards her.
