Delhi High Court reserves verdict in Delhi LG Vinai Kumar Saxena's defamation suit against AAP leaders

The Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on a defamation suit by Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leaders Sanjay Singh, Atishi, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Jasmine Shah and Durgesh Pathak. .Justice Amit Bansal reserved the order after hearing Senior Advocates appearing for LG and AAP leaders. .Senior Advocates Mahesh Jethmalani and Maninder Singh appeared for Saxena to argue that the allegations made by the AAP and its leaders are patently false and defamatory. They said that the defendants have not been able to show anything to substantiate the allegations and that even the document used by then is non-existent in reality and, therefore, forged.."Their tweets and press conferences have been widely reported. Functionaries of the party say all this day in and day out. They say Vinai Kumar Saxen ne Rs 1400 crore ka ghotala kiya. They may not take any names but we know they are referring to VK Saxena," Singh stated. The counsel argued that these allegations are being made against a high constitutional functionary who cannot come in public and defend himself. The suit demanded that an injunction order should be passed against these leaders and they be directed to take down all tweets, posts or videos in reference to the allegations against the LG. .However, Senior Advocates Sandeep Sethi and Rajiv Nayar, appearing for AAP leaders, argued that court should not pass an interim injunction order at this stage and whether there is truth to the allegations made or not will be decided at the stage of trial. "We plead truth and justification. There cannot be any question for injunction. The allegation is during this person's (Saxena) tenure at KVIC, two people were arrested. They can say that this is hearsay, but the fact is two people have gone on record to say that this happened," Sethi argued. He added that the principles laid down by the courts is that public functionaries must be open to criticism and that they have to be thick-skinned. "As a political party it is my duty to bring all these issues to public notice. The LG is not above law. I am not seeking investigation against him for something he did while being LG but for his conduct during his tenure at KVIC," said another counsel appearing for Bhardwaj. .Saxena filed the defamation suit against AAP leaders for levelling ‘derogatory’ and ‘malicious’ charges against him.The AAP legislators had alleged in Delhi assembly on August 29 that Saxena had pressured his employees to exchange demonetised currencies. They also alleged financial irregularities to the tune of ₹1400 when Saxena was heading the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).AAP also alleged that Saxena misused his position and awarded a contract for the interior design of Khadi lounge in Mumbai to his daughter. The party demanded a CBI and ED probe into the matter and Saxena’s arrest..The LG had sent a legal notice to AAP leaders earlier this month asking them to issue a press statement directing all its members and people associated with the party to cease and desist from spreading defamatory and unsubstantiated statements.He had demanded them to comply with the notice within 48 hours.However, the AAP leaders had refused.

Delhi High Court reserves verdict in Delhi LG Vinai Kumar Saxena's defamation suit against AAP leaders

Prashant Jha

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