Court Relief To Congress's Digvijaya Singh In 2019 Defamation Case

A special court in Gwalior on Tuesday acquitted Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh in a 2019 defamation case filed against him for his alleged remarks that BJP/RSS workers were spying for Pakistan.

Special judicial magistrate Mahender Saini, presiding over the MP-MLA court, acquitted the former Chief Minister, a Rajya Sabha member, of the charge levelled against him under IPC section 500 (defamation).

"...invocation of the offence u/s 500 IPC does not merit acceptance," said the court in its order.

The complainant has "failed to prove that the accused (Singh), through his statements on BJP/RSS workers, has defamed them. Hence, accused Digvijaya Singh is acquitted of the charge," said the judge.

The case was filed against Singh by an advocate, Awdhesh Bhadoria.

"The court found that the facts against Singh in the case were false and acquitted him," the Congress leader's advocate Sanjay Shukla told reporters.

The court, in its order, cited exception 9 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 499 (imputation made in good faith by person for protection of his or other's interests), said Shukla.

The exception says it is not defamation to make an imputation on the character of another provided that the imputation be made in good faith for the protection of the interests of the person making it, or of any other person, or for the public good.

The complainant failed to prove that he (Bhadoria) is a member of the RSS or BJP, said Shukla.

The lawyer said the complaint was filed just to ensure that the issue (controversial remarks) remains a matter of discussion among members of the public.

Addressing a press conference in Bhind on August 31, 2019, Mr Singh had alleged that BJP/RSS workers were involved in spying for Pakistan.

Mr Bhadoria later told reporters that he will file an appeal against the MP-MLA court judgment in the Madhya Pradesh High Court after studying it.

He claimed the court accepted that Mr Singh had given such a statement though it does not amount to defamation.

The 77-year-old Congress veteran welcomed the judgement.

"The decision of the court is acceptable to me. The court has acquitted me. A total of 6 (defamation) cases were filed against me. Now, five are pending. Two by the RSS and two by Owaisi's AIMIM (Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi's party) and one by (yoga guru) Baba Ramdev," said the former CM.

"If I say the truth then it hurts, but ultimately the truth prevails," Mr Singh remarked, referring to the defamation cases against him.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)