Raghav Chadha criminal defamation: Delhi High Court stays lower court proceedings against BJP leaders

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday stayed proceedings before a Delhi Court which issued summons to several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in a criminal defamation case filed by Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha (Ramvir Singh Bidhuri v. Delhi Jal Board and Ors)..Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri has also issued notice to Chadha and the Delhi Jal Board directing them to file their responses by March 16, 2022, when the case will be heard next..Senior BJP leaders including Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Delhi unit President Adesh Gupta, MLA Vijender Gupta and party spokesperson Harish Khurana filed a petition seeking quashing of the summons issued by the Rouse Avenue Court last month..Chadha, who is also Vice-President of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), had filed a defamation suit against the leaders in March this year. In his complaint, Chadha alleged that Bidhuri, Adesh Gupta, Vijender Gupta and Khurana had held press conferences on January 21 and 23 alleging several irregularities to the tune of ₹26,000 crore in the functioning of the DJB and also referred to it as the "Dalali Jal Board". His complaint argued that the allegations were baseless and defamatory.On November 18, an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate issued summons to the BJP leaders..In his petition challenging the summons before the High Court, filed through Advocates Neeraj and Satya Ranjan Swain, Bidhuri argued that being the Leader of the Opposition, he has been at the forefront of exposing irregularities in the working of the Delhi government which, essentially, is the job of an opposition in a democracy.“That in fact the basis of election of Aam Aadmi Party to which the Respondent No. 2 (Chadha) belongs and is part of the Ministry, was eradication of corruption in public space and also to ensure that all those who had done such acts are dealt by judicial process to ensure corruption free society. In such a situation, if there appears even an iota of any act of corruption, then it's the duty of members of opposition to bring the facts to the knowledge of the public I electorate and place the facts in public domain. Such revelations by no stretch of imagination can be construed as defaming when the said revelations and comments only deal with the public act of the person concerned and no further,” the petition said.The petition further contended that issues of financial irregularities in the DJB were raised based on facts and documents in good faith and in the larger public interest.“That it is a matter of fact that several crores were given by the Govt ofNCT of Delhi to the Respondent No. 1 i.e. the Delhi Jal Board in the form of Loans, Grants and Extra Budgetary Borrowing in the tenure of the AamAadmi Party and till date, no audit has been done of the said amount by the CAG, as per the statutory requirement, because the Complainant No. 1 has not provided the accounts of the FY 2015-16 till date in spite of CAG's multiple letters and reminders,” it said..Raghav Chadha criminal defamation: Delhi Leader of Opposition moves Delhi High Court against summons