New Delhi, April 30 (H.S.): The Delhi High Court has postponed the hearing on the petition challenging the sessions court’s order to quash the summons issued by the magistrate court against the then Chief Minister Atishi Marlena, filed by BJP leader Praveen Shankar Kapoor. The hearing could not take place in the High Court due to time constraints. The next hearing in the matter will be on October 29.
On February 4, the High Court had issued a notice to Atishi Marlena during the hearing. During the hearing, Ajay Burman, the lawyer representing Praveen Shankar Kapoor, stated that the sessions court had made political analyses in its decision. Burman said that no evidence has been presented regarding the allegations made during a press conference about horse trading, even though Kejriwal and Atishi alleged in the press conference that the BJP had ordered 27 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators to join the BJP. The sessions court made comments beyond its limits and included political remarks.
Praveen Shankar Kapoor’s petition states that there is a need to annul the sessions court’s order because it has several legal flaws. The petition argues that the sessions court has considered issues that are of significantly less importance beyond the criminal complaint.
In fact, the sessions court located at Rouse Avenue had quashed the summons issued to Atishi Marlena in relation to the defamation case filed by Praveen Shankar Kapoor for accusing the BJP of attempting to poach AAP legislators on January 28.
The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Tanya Bamaniyal of the Rouse Avenue court had issued a summons to Atishi, ordering her to appear. This order was challenged by Atishi in the sessions court. In this case, the magistrate court had granted bail to Atishi on July 23, 2024, on a personal bond of ₹20,000.
Praveen Shankar Kapoor has filed a criminal defamation petition against former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi Marlena in the Magistrate Court. On May 28, 2024, the Magistrate Court took cognizance of Praveen Shankar Kapoor’s defamation petition. The Magistrate Court has not yet taken cognizance against Kejriwal in this matter. The petition states that Kejriwal and Atishi falsely accused BJP leaders of accepting crores of rupees to join the BJP, while there is no truth to these allegations.
The petition also mentions a post made by Kejriwal on Twitter on January 27, 2024, and a press conference by Atishi on April 2, 2024. Praveen Shankar has stated that the accused have not presented any evidence regarding their allegations.
The petition states that Kejriwal’s tweet alleged that the BJP had contacted seven AAP MLAs. The tweet claimed that the BJP had offered 25 crores to topple the Delhi government. The petition further claims that as soon as Atishi’s name came up in the Delhi excise scam case, she began making these allegations against the BJP to divert people’s attention from the excise scam.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
