The complaint alleged Arvind Kejriwal made "false, fabricated allegations" against Subhash Chandra
A Delhi court on Saturday discharged chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in a defamation complaint filed by Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament or MP Subhash Chandra, saying Mr Chandra had not followed proper procedure while filing his plea.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal granted the relief to the Aam Aadmi Party chief, noting that Mr Chandra had filed the complaint through a power of attorney which is "barred" under law. The court said that Mr Chandra was at liberty to file a fresh complaint in accordance with law.
"Hence proceeding further with this case will be a futile exercise as this case is also filed through power of attorney. Accordingly the accused Arvind Kejriwal is discharged from this case," the court said.
The media baron had on November 17, 2016 moved the court through a power of attorney to Gulshan Kumar Sachdeva, seeking prosecution of Mr Kejriwal for allegedly defaming him by levelling false allegations in the wake of demonetisation.
The complaint had alleged that Mr Kejriwal, while addressing a press conference on November 11, had made "false, fabricated and defamatory allegations" against Mr Chandra.
The complaint alleged that the allegations "caused serious harm to his (Chandra's) reputation by imputing behaviour incompatible with proper conduct and suggestions of involvement in illegal activity".