New Delhi, Jan 25 The Delhi High Court on Wednesday stayed the trial court proceedings against BJP MP from West Delhi, Parvesh Verma, in a defamation case filed against him by Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
Sisodia had filed a defamation case against six persons, including Verma, after they claimed that he was implicated in a corruption case involving approximately Rs 2,000 crore relating to the construction of new classrooms in Delhi government schools.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma, while staying the proceedings, issued a notice and sought Sisodia's response to Verma's petition.
Justice Sharma said, "Issued notice. In the meanwhile, the proceedings qua the petitioner shall remain stayed," as he listed the matter for next hearing on March 10, when the petitions filed by other BJP leaders are also listed.
On January 20, the high court had stayed trial court proceedings against BJP spokesperson and media relations in-charge Harish Khurana in the same matter. Khurana had moved to court seeking a stay.
On January 5, the court had stayed the proceedings before a trial court in the defamation case Sisodia had filed against BJP leaders Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Hans Raj Hans.
Sisodia had sued Sirsa, Hans and other BJP leaders including Manoj Tiwari and Vijender Gupta.
A request for discharge in the same case by BJP officials was rejected by the lower court in December 2022.
Appearing for the BJP leaders, senior advocates Pawan Narang and Kirti Uppal had said that Vijender Gupta, one of the summoned individuals, had filed a petition before the Supreme Court for relief in response to the same summoning order.
In light of the apex court's ruling that Gupta's tweet did not constitute defamation, they noted that the case against Hans and Sirsa also requires consideration.
The court had issued notice to Sisodia after hearing the senior advocates.
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