Arvind Kejriwal put on trial over Bidhuri defamation case

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was put on trial on Saturday by a city court for alleged offence of defamation in a criminal complaint filed against him by BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri.

Metropolitan magistrate Harvinder Singh passed the order after which the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, who was present before the court, pleaded not guilty and stated that he would contest the case.

The court framed the notice under Sections 499 and 500 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with the offence of defamation. In his complaint, Mr Bidhuri had alleged that Mr Kejriwal had defamed him in an interview to a news channel.

During the proceedings, the court also granted Mr Kejriwal permanent exemption from personal appearance in the case. The court, however, said that the AAP politician may be asked to appear personally in the case, if the need arose. The court has now fixed December 23 as the next date of hearing.

During the hearing, the chief minister said that he had no intention to defame the BJP lawmaker, a claim contested by Mr Bidhuri.

Mr Kejriwal, who was summoned as an accused in the complaint filed by Mr Bidhuri, was granted bail by the court on July 8 after he appeared before it and furnished a personal bond of Rs 10,000. He was summoned as accused by the court in February this year on a criminal defamation complaint filed by Mr Bidhuri, an MP from south Delhi Parliamentary constituency, under section 500 (defamation) of the IPC.

Mr Bidhuri had claimed that during the interview, Mr Kejriwal falsely said that criminal cases were pending against the former and a Congress leader but the Delhi police was not taking action against them. Mr Bidhuri has claimed that no case was pending against him.