Ex-CM Arvind Kejriwal has habit of making false & defamatory statement: Nitin Gadkari

NEW DELHI: Arvind Kejriwal has the " habit" of making false charges without any basis, BJP leader Nitin Gadkari today told a court here seeking initiation of criminal defamation proceedings against the AAP leader for allegedly defaming him by including his name in Aam Aadmi Party's list of "India's most corrupt".

Deposing as a complainant witness in the complaint filed against Kejriwal, Gadkari claimed the former Delhi Chief Minister had included his name in the list of alleged corrupt politician to tarnish his public image.

"The accused (Kejriwal) is in the habit of making false and defamatory statements without any basis. The statements made by the accused and his party members have damaged and tarnished my image in the eyes of the people.

"The said statements have been made maliciously by the accused person and his party people with the knowledge that the same are false, without any basis and with the malafide intention to defame and tarnish my reputation," Gadkari told Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati Manocha.

As soon as the proceedings commenced, the magistrate asked Gadkari to record his statement in support of his complaint against Kejriwal.

After Gadkari's statement, the court also recorded the testimony of another complainant witness, advocate Neeraj, and posted the matter for February 22 for hearing arguments on whether to summon Kejriwal as an accused.

During the recording of the statement, 57-year-old Gadkari alleged that being a public person, Kejriwal cannot make such "baseless and false allegation" against him with a "malafide intention" to tarnish his image.

In his complaint filed through senior advocate Pinky Anand and Ajay Digpaul, the former BJP President said Kejriwal had issued a list of alleged "India's most corrupt" on January 31 this year in which he had named various politicians, including him.

On January 31, Kejriwal had accused several politicians of being "corrupt" and had said AAP will field candidates against them in coming Lok Sabha polls.