Tajinder Bagga told the Delhi High Court that Subramanian Swamy is a “perpetual defamer” and that he filed the case to protect his “hard-earned reputation”. Swamy seeks quashing of the criminal defamation case arising from his alleged false tweet.
New Delhi: BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga told the Delhi High Court on Friday that former Union Minister Subramanian Swamy is a “perpetual defamer” and that he filed a criminal defamation case only to protect his “hard-earned reputation”.
Bagga’s statement was made through Senior Advocate Pavan Narang before Justice Ravinder Dudeja during the hearing of Swamy’s petition seeking to quash the defamation case filed against him.
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Swamy was represented by Advocates Ajay Sabharwal and Satya Sabharwal, who argued that Swamy’s tweet was harmless and innocuous. They also requested time to file a response to Bagga’s reply, after which the Court adjourned the matter to April 2026.
According to Bagga’s complaint filed before the magistrate, Swamy, who has more than 10 million followers on Twitter, posted a “false and incorrect” tweet alleging that Bagga had been jailed many times for petty offences at the Mandir Marg Police Station in Delhi.
In March 2022, the magistrate court had taken cognizance of Bagga’s complaint and issued summons to Swamy. However, Swamy approached the High Court, which stayed the summons order in April 2022.
Bagga has now submitted his reply in the High Court, stating that Swamy
“has a history of making controversial statements on Twitter”
and that his online behaviour shows a
“reckless disregard for truth and the reputation of others”.
Bagga further argued that
“The Petitioner [Swamy] cannot be allowed to abuse his freedom of speech by making false and defamatory statements with impunity”.
On the specific allegation in Swamy’s tweet claiming that he was
“jailed many times for petty crimes by the New Delhi Mandir Marg Police Station”,
Bagga said the charge is completely untrue and that a report from the local sub-inspector confirmed that no FIR has ever been registered against him.
Bagga added that this tweet caused serious harm to his name and image, as he even had to face senior BJP leaders who questioned him about the allegations.
Bagga emphasised that
“Reputation is not measured by political appointments but by esteem in the eyes of right-thinking members of society”.
He also claimed that Swamy held personal malice against him and had been making defamatory remarks against him since 2020. As for his own tweets about Swamy, Bagga said the posts were not defamatory and
“at best can be termed political satire or commentary”.
Bagga maintains that Swamy’s statements have unfairly tarnished his public standing and that the criminal defamation case should continue so that his name can be cleared.
Swamy, on the other hand, insists that his tweet was harmless and not defamatory. The High Court will examine the matter further in 2026.
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