Delhi Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday, May 28, summoned Delhi Education Minister Atishi in the defamation case filed by Delhi BJP Media head Praveen Shankar Kapoor. The defamation case pertains to the allegations by Atishi that the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) was trying to poach Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs. The court has summoned her to appear before the court on June 29.
In the defamation case, Praveen Shankar Kapoor had alleged that Atishi was making “false, fabricated, and manipulated statements”.…“with a malafide intention to lower BJP's and its workers' reputation in general public."
The complaint said, “By such kind of malicious/ scandalous statements, you and your colleagues defame BJP and its members and try to gain political mileage by use of platform of press conferences to make such false statements knowing fully well that all social media platforms would carry such news as you are not only an MLA but a Minister in the govt of NCT of Delhi."
Atishi was earlier served notice by the Election Commission of India (ECI) after her claims that she was approached and bribed by a BJP leader to join the party. This was at a time when Atishi had taken a centerstage following the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering case linked to the excise policy case.
“I have been told that soon there will be ED raids at our residence and then we will be taken into custody. The BJP is now targeting the next line of the leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party," Atishi said. The Delhi minister also claimed that she would be arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) if she refuses to join the BJP.
The ECI notice read: “…you are a minister in the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi and leader of a national party. The electors tend to believe whatever is being said from a public forum by their leaders and in that sense the statements made by them affect the campaign discourse… it is expected that there must be a factual foundation to the above quoted statements made by you and when the veracity of the statements made by you is contested then you must be able to back your statements by a factual basis and whereas the matter is being examined by the Commission in light of the provisions of Model Code of Conduct and relevant electoral laws.”
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The BJP had demanded a public apology over Atishi's allegations. Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva had said, “The AAP is undergoing a crisis in Delhi, which is why they are making such baseless allegations out of frustration. But we will not let her get away with this.”
BJP leader RP Singh said, “I too can make such baseless allegations. I too can say that Saurabh Bharadwaj called me up and requested me to protect them from Arvind Kejriwal who wants to put them behind bars and make Sunita Kejriwal the CM."
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