A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to Delhi BJP leader Harish Khurana in a criminal defamation complaint filed by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for allegedly making accusations of corruption in relation to construction of classrooms at government schools.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vishal Pahuja granted bail to Mr. Khurana on a personal bond of ₹20,000 and one surety of the like amount.
The court also issued bailable warrant against BJP leaders Hansraj Hans, Parvesh Verma and Manjinder Singh Sirsa for their non-appearance and ignorance of summons issued by the court earlier.
Meanwhile, the court allowed exemption from personal appearance to BJP Delhi Chief Manoj Tiwari and party leader Vijender Gupta.
The relief was granted on applications moved by their lawyers. In his application filed by advocate Neeraj, Mr. Tiwari said he was not able to appear before the court on Wednesday as violence and clashes had erupted in his constituency during a protest against against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Mr. Gupta’s counsel expressed his inability to appear before the court, citing some health issues.
The court had earlier issued summons against Mr. Tiwari, Mr. Verma, Mr. Hans, Mr. Gupta and Mr. Khurana on a criminal complaint by Mr. Sisodia for allegedly making false allegations regarding the Deputy Chief Minister’s involvement in corruption of ₹2,000 crore in building of classrooms in Delhi government schools.
Mr. Sisodia stated in his complaint that the allegations made by the BJP leaders jointly were “false, defamatory and derogatory” and were made with an intent to harm and damage his reputation and goodwill.
