A Sessions Court in Delhi on Thursday issued notice to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bharadwaj on a plea filed by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Parvesh Verma challenging the rejection of a criminal defamation case filed by him against Bharadwaj.

Verma had sued Bharadwaj over the latter's social media posts allegedly insinuating that he (Verma) used his influence in favour of officials of a school where a three-year-old girl was raped. 

However, the case was dismissed by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Neha Mittal of the Rouse Avenue Courts on October 10.

Judge Mittal refused to take cognisance of the case and observed that Bharadwaj's posts were in the nature of questions asked with the purpose of criticising the government and not to defame anyone.

The Magistrate also said that Verma had approached the Court with "unclean hands".

The minister has now challenged the order through a revision petition.

On November 5, Special Judge Ruby Neeraj Kumar heard the matter and sought Bharadwaj's response.

The Court said that the case will be heard next on November 28.

It is Verma's case that Bharadwaj posted “false, malicious and highly defamatory” tweets and videos on May 15 and May 16 from his X handle.

The posts alleged that Singh misused his position as a minister to appoint his alleged associate, one Amarjet Singh Baboo, as a trustee in a private school trust worth nearly ₹500 crores and that the said trust belongs to Singh. 

According to Verma, Bharadwaj also insinuated that he (Verma) exercised his influence in favour of the employees of the school run by the said trust, who are the accused persons in the POCSO case.  

As per his plea, Bharadwaj made insinuations of corruption, nepotism and file suppression against him, lowering his reputation in the eyes of the public. 

Senior Advocate Sacchin Puri with advocates Praveen Kumar, Sunil Kumar, Suman Raj and Krishna Shukla appeared for Parvesh Verma.

[Read Order]