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  Arvind Kejriwal need not appear in court

Arvind Kejriwal need not appear in court

AGE CORRESPONDENT
Published : May 6, 2016, 7:38 am IST
Updated : May 6, 2016, 7:38 am IST

A Delhi court on Thursday granted exemption from personal appearance to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, in connection with a criminal defamation case lodged against him by BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri.

A Delhi court on Thursday granted exemption from personal appearance to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, in connection with a criminal defamation case lodged against him by BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri.

The counsel appearing for Mr Kejriwal told the court of metropolitan magistrate Harvinder Singh that he was busy at government work. They also moved a plea seeking exemption for Mr Kejriwal from personal appearance. Mr Kejriwal’s counsel Rishikesh Kumar and Neha Rastogi told the court that the chief minister will appear before the court on the next date of hearing. The court after hearing their submission allowed their plea and granted relief to Mr Kejriwal. The court has now fixed June 6 as the next date of hearing.

Mr Kejriwal was summoned as an accused by the court in February on a criminal defamation complaint filed against him by Mr Bidhuri, an MP from South Delhi parliamentary constituency, under Section 500 (defamation) of the IPC.

Mr Bidhuri alleged in his complaint that Mr Kejriwal had defamed him during an interview given to a news channel. He has alleged that during the interview, Mr Kejriwal had falsely said that criminal cases were pending against Mr Bidhuri and a Congress leader, but the Delhi police was not taking action against them. Mr Bidhuri claimed that no case was pending against him and that Mr Kejriwal had defamed him by giving such statement. Mr Bidhuri also told the court that Mr Kejriwal’s statements had maligned his image.

Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi