Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Sept 22: In a defamation case brought by Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leaders Sanjay Singh, Atishi, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Jasmine Shah and Durgesh Pathak, the Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved its decision.
After hearing senior attorneys representing LG and AAP leaders argue their cases, Justice Amit Bansal reserved the order.
Saxena was represented by senior attorneys Mahesh Jethmalani and Maninder Singh, who argued that the accusations made by the AAP and its leaders are demonstrably untrue and defamatory.
They said that the defendants had failed to produce any evidence to support their claims and that even the document that had been utilised at the time was fictitious because it did not exist in reality.
“Their tweets and press conferences have been widely reported. Functionaries of the party say all this day in and day out. They say Vinai Kumar Saxen ne Rs 1400 crore ka ghotala kiya. They may not take any names but we know they are referring to VK Saxena,” Singh stated.
The attorney contended that these accusations are being brought against a high-ranking constitutional official who is unable to appear in public and present his own defence.
The lawsuit sought that an injunction order be issued against these leaders and that they are told to delete any tweets, posts, or videos that made mention to the LG’s alleged wrongdoings.
Senior Advocates Sandeep Sethi and Rajiv Nayar, speaking on behalf of AAP leaders, countered that the issue of whether the charges made are true or false will be resolved at the trial stage and that the court should not issue an interim injunction order at this time.
“We plead truth and justification. There cannot be any question for an injunction. The allegation is during this person’s (Saxena) tenure at KVIC, two people were arrested. They can say that this is hearsay, but the fact is two people have gone on record to say that this happened,” Sethi argued.
Saxena sued the AAP leaders for defamation after they allegedly made ‘derogatory’ and ‘malicious’ accusations against him. On August 29, the Delhi assembly heard accusations from AAP lawmakers that Saxena had forced his staff to swap demonetised currency.
Additionally, they said Saxena was in charge of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission at the time of financial violations totaling Rs 1400.
AAP further claimed that Saxena abused his power by giving his daughter the contract for the interior decoration of Mumbai’s Khadi lounge. The party sought Saxena’s arrest and a CBI and ED investigation into the situation.
Earlier this month, the LG submitted a legal notice to AAP leaders requesting that they produce a press release ordering all of the party’s members and associates to stop disseminating false and defamatory claims. Within 48 hours, he had requested that they abide by the notification. However, the AAP leaders had refused.
