Delhi BJP leader challenges summon issued in Kailash Gahlot defamation case in Delhi HC, hearing tomorrow

The Delhi High Court, Delhi BJP leader and MLA Vijender Gupta on Monday challenged summons issued against him by a trial court in a criminal defamation case filed by Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot for allegedly making a false statement of corruption against him in relation to the procurement of public buses.

The matter was mentioned before the Bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh on Monday by Advocate Pavan Narang, representing Vijender Gupta and sought urgent hearing of the matter.

However, the Bench agrees to hear the matter on Tuesday while refusing to hear the matter on Monday itself.

The Rouse Avenue Court, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey last Month after hearing the arguments said, "The Court is of the considered view on the basis of an oral submission, a document placed and proved on record in pre summoning evidence by the complainant and the deposition of complainant witnesses that accused Vijender Gupta has prima facie committed the offences punishable U/s 499/500/501 IPC. Accordingly, accused Vijender Gupta be summoned for November 16, 2021.

The Delhi Cabinet Minister Kailash Gehlot who is holding several portfolios including transport ministry recently has moved to Delhi Court and filed a criminal defamation complaint against BJP MLA Vijender Gupta for allegedly making false statements of corruption against him in relation to the procurement of public buses.

State Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot through defamation complaint stated that Vijender Gupta a sitting MLA of Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) has defamed and tarnished the reputation of the Complainant (Kailash Gehlot).

The complaint alleged that the accused (Vijender Gupta) intentionally for malafide purposes and to gain political mileage has levelled defamatory, scandalous, mischievous, false and scurrilous allegations on the complainant both verbal as well as in writing.

The accused has been continuously making allegations of corruption against the Complainant since March 8, 2021, and he has continued to make reckless, irresponsible and false allegations with a deliberate intention and ill-will to tarnish the reputation of the Complainant in the eyes of right-thinking people, said complaint copy.

It further added that the accused, for the purposes of harassing and defaming the Complainant, has used the social media platforms irresponsibly and in a destructive manner to malign and target the reputation of the complainant.

The accused has levied illogical, outrageous, reprehensible and intolerable allegations on the Complainant which are neither true nor correct. The false, reckless and defamatory allegations were made by the accused on innuendo and hunches, without checking the veracity or truthfulness of the allegations being made by him, plea read.

The vilifying and scandalous allegations were made by the accused in order to stall the ambitious project of the Delhi Government to give major relief to the residents of Delhi who have chosen the AamAadmi Party over any other political group. The Accused made scurrilous, misplaced and false allegations against the Complainant with an intention to teach people of Delhi a lesson for voting in favour of the Aam Aadmi Party, the plea alleged.

The effort of the Delhi Government as well as that of the Complainant was to bring transparency and accountability to the process of procurement and maintenance of buses for trouble-free performance and availability of a sufficient number of buses at any given point of time.

The DTC had made attempts to maintain the buses at their own Depots through their trained staff but this led to frequent breakdowns and non-availability of buses at any given point of time besides being too expensive to maintain, stated plea.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recently requested the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to conduct a preliminary inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged irregularities in the purchase of 1,000 low-floor buses by the Delhi government.

( With inputs from ANI )

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