Delhi High court seeks Arvind Kejriwal's reply on defamation plea

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Wednesday issued a notice to Arvind Kejriwal asking for his response to a plea filed by Congress MP Avtar Singh Bhadana seeking damages of Rs 1 crore from the AAP leader. Bhadana has sought the damages on the ground that Kejriwal had tarnished his image by branding him as "corrupt".

The court, however, refused to pass any interim order on the petition saying "people are winning elections even from jail. Common public is not so bothered about all this".

"Issue notice to respondent. Original documents pertaining to the suit be filed within four weeks," Justice A K Pathak said and fixed the petition of Faridabad MP Avtar Singh Bhadana for hearing on May 6.

The Congress MP has contended in his petition that Kejriwal had termed him as one of the "most corrupt persons in India" in a public statement on January 31.

"The defendant (Kejriwal) who himself is an elected representative of Delhi has chosen to name him (Bhadana) on January 31, 2014, as one of most corrupt persons of India in his public statement causing serious damage to plaintiff's reputation among his electorates, peers and supporters throughout India with a view to take electoral advantage in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections," it said.

The petition also stated, "this is sad and unfortunate that, instead of giving constructive criticism, defendant is making false and baseless allegations against respected leaders of various political parties and business houses and business institutions."

The petition has also sought a permanent injunction against Kejriwal restraining him from making any allegations against the Congress MP.