Delhi Court Summons AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak In Defamation Complaint Filed By BJP Councillor Ravinder Kumar

The Delhi Court while taking cognizance of the Defamation Complaint filed by the BJP Councillor Ravinder Kumar against the two persons, namely Durgesh Pathak, MLA from AAP and Vikash Goel, AAP Councillor has recently issued summons to said accused persons.

The accused were alleged to have made the defamatory statements in the year 2020 to tarnish the image of the BJP and its councillors.

The complainant stated that the published defamatory statements have lowered his moral and intellectual character in the eyes of the third person.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidhi Gupta Anand while summoning the accused and listing the matter on January 23, said, “Even though Complainant has not been specifically named in the statements made by the Accused persons, as the averments have been made pertaining to an identifiable and specific class of persons i.e. Bhartiya Janata Party Councilors, Complainant is very well covered within the ambit of section 199 Cr.P.C. as the person aggrieved by the offence as he is himself a councilor of the Bhartiya Janata Party.”

The Court observed that at the stage of taking cognizance, there is neither the need of going into the details of the probative value of evidence brought on record by the complainant nor get into the question of defence which might be taken by the accused.

Advocate Deepanshu Badiwal appeared on behalf of the complainant in this matter.

In his complaint, Ravinder Kumar alleged that in order to gain mileage in the then-upcoming elections of the Delhi Municipal Corporation, the AAP persons started spreading rumours and making false and defamatory statements against BJP, its leaders, and councillors. It was further alleged that the accused persons in conspiracy with each other held a Press Conference on November 1, 2020, on the issue of collection of property tax by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation and levelled false and defamatory allegations against the Municipal Councillors of BJP.

The counsel for the complainant submitted that there was a tussle with respect to the revenue sharing between the BJP and AAP. It was also submitted that the BJP Councillors were demanding their due funds from the Delhi government, run by AAP, which were not being released due to which the BJP councillors were sitting on protest and therefore, in order to divert the issue of non-payment of revenue, the AAP leaders started levelling false allegations against the BJP Councillors pertaining to tax collection.

The Court, therefore, ordered, “… having considered the details of allegations made in the complaint, the statement of the complainant and CW2 on solemn affirmation as well as materials on which the Complainant placed reliance, this court takes Cognizance of the offence under section 499/500 IPC. … Matter be put for appearance of the Accused persons/further proceedings on 23.01.2023 at 02:30 PM.”

Accordingly, the Court issued the summons to the AAP leaders.

Cause Title- Ravinder Kumar v. Durgesh Pathak & Anr.

Click here to read/download the Order