New Delhi:
BJP leader Nitin Gadkari filed a criminal defamation complaint before a court in Delhi against former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly defaming him by including his name in the Aam Aadmi Party's list of "India's most corrupt".
The petition came up for hearing before Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati Manocha who asked Mr Gadkari to record his statement in support of his complaint.
After Mr Gadkari's statement, the court also recorded the testimony of a witness, advocate Neeraj who appeared before the magistrate to back the BJP leader's complaint.
Following recording of the statements, the court posted the matter on February 22 for hearing arguments on the plea for summoning Mr Kejriwal as an accused.
"I will hear the arguments on February 22," the magistrate said.
In his petition filed through senior advocate Pinky Anand and advocate Ajay Digpaul, Mr Gadkari claimed that Mr Kejriwal had levelled "false, baseless, scandalous and defamatory statements" against him which had lowered his dignity in the eyes of the public.
"Such false, baseless, scandalous, fabricated and defamatory statements have been made with the ulterior motive and wrongful intent to malign and tarnish the image of the complainant and the same constitutes the offence of defamation under section 499 IPC, punishable under section 500 IPC," it said.
Mr Gadkari also alleged that Mr Kejriwal had "deliberately tried to malign" his image though "he is not involved in any wrongful or corrupt act."
"The news circulated and published on the basis of statements made by Kejriwal is per se defamatory and scandalous. He has deliberately released/published the aforesaid list of India's most corrupt mentioning the name of the complainant in a grossly irresponsible manner," he said.