Defamation case against CM disposed of

After Kejriwal, senior BJP submitted that they had settled the matter

NEW DELHI, 02/02/2015: Avtar Singh Bhadana after joning the BJP at party Headquarters, New Delhi on February 02, 2015. Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma

A court here on Monday disposed of a civil defamation suit filed by senior BJP leader Avtar Singh Bhadana against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Additional District Judge Surinder S. Rathi disposed of the suit when the Chief Minister and Mr. Bhadana said in a joint application that they had settled the matter and decided not to pursue the case.

Statement withdrawn

The counsel for Mr. Bhadana submitted that Mr. Kejriwal had withdrawn his earlier statement, saying that he had no intention to malign the reputation of the plaintiff. Mr. Bhadana had filed the suit alleging that the Chief Minister had tarnished his image by branding him as corrupt.

He had sought ₹1 crore in damages from Mr. Kejriwal.

He had contended that Mr. Kejriwal had publicly made a defamatory statement on January 31, 2014. Despite sending a legal notice to the Chief Minister, he neither withdrew his comment nor apologised for it.

The petition

“The defendant [Mr. Kejriwal], who himself is an elected representative of Delhi, chose to name him [Mr. Bhadana] on January 31, 2014, as one of the most corrupt persons of India in his public statement, causing serious damage to the plaintiff’s [Mr. Bhadana] reputation among his electorates, peers and supporters throughout India. This was done with a view to take electoral advantage in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2014,” the suit had alleged.

It had stated this was sad and unfortunate that instead of giving constructive criticism, the defendant was making false and baseless allegations against respected leaders of various political parties and business houses and institutions.

The petition also had sought a permanent injunction against Mr. Kejriwal, restraining him from making any allegations against the plaintiff.