Court issues summons against Arvind Kejriwal in defamation case

NEW DELHI: A court here today issued summons against activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal on a criminal defamation case filed against him by the political advisor of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for allegedly making "baseless" allegations against her.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Shailender Malik summoned Kejriwal as an accused for March 20 on the complaint which said he had used "false and filthy" language against the chief minister in a television show.

"Due to politically motivated and malafide reasons, mischievous and absolutely false and baseless allegations have been intentionally made in a filthy and foul language through convoluted information to gain scandalising impact, at a platform where the same could not be rebutted, as Sheila Dikshit or the office of the Chief Minister of Delhi was not represented.

"This shows that the intention was to paint a patently incorrect picture in the eyes of the viewers, general public thereby causing irreparable harm to the reputation and standing of all including complainant," the complaint by Pawan Khera, chief minister's political adviser, said.

Appearing for Khera, advocate Mehmood Pracha, said in October 2012, Kejriwal had organised several protests against "power tariff hike in the capital and had accused the government of stalling Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission's move to cut power tariff by 23 per cent in 2010".

The complainant also said that being a part of the chief minister's office he too was defamed by Kejriwal.