The case is linked to a press conference held on December 26, 2024, where the AAP leaders reportedly accused Dikshit of taking “crores of rupees” from the BJP and secretly working to hurt AAP’s election chances.
NEW DELHI: Today (16th Jan): Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court issued a notice to Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Marlena and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh in response to a defamation case filed by Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit.
The case is linked to a press conference held on December 26, 2024, where the AAP leaders reportedly accused Dikshit of taking “crores of rupees” from the BJP and secretly working to hurt AAP’s election chances.
Dikshit, who is contesting against former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the upcoming Delhi elections, expressed strong disapproval of the accusations.
He said, “For the last 10-12 years, they have targeted Congress, me, and my family. I have several questions to ask AAP from the last 10-12 years.”
On January 27, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Paras Dalal issued notices to Delhi Chief Minister Atishi and AAP MP Sanjay Singh. The notices were issued to provide the accused an opportunity to present their side before the court takes any action on the complaint.
The case has been filed under Section 223 in conjunction with Section 222(1) of BNSS, 2023, to summon, try, and punish the accused for alleged offenses under Section 356 along with Section 3(5) of BNS, 2023.
Sandeep Dikshit, through his advocate Sarim Naved, has filed a complaint accusing the accused of organizing a press conference on December 26, 2024, in New Delhi, during which defamatory statements were made against him and his political party, the Indian National Congress (INC).
Dikshit also took a dig at Kejriwal’s governance, especially focusing on AAP’s promises for welfare initiatives ahead of the elections.
He questioned, “Why are they implementing all this now? Why didn’t they do this earlier? When he went to prison, he wasted a good 1.5 years. I want to ask him, if he becomes the CM again, will he still not be able to implement these schemes?”
The complaint stated, “Moreover, the said X post has over 30,000 (thirty thousand) views on Twitter and has been widely shared. Additionally, the defamatory statements have been extensively reported by national newspapers.”
It further claimed that the facts and circumstances clearly show that the accused, through both written and spoken words, made and caused the publication of defamatory statements aimed at damaging the complainant’s reputation, thereby committing the offense of defamation under Section 356 of BNS, 2023.
The complaint also mentioned that a legal notice was sent on January 2, 2025, but the defamatory tweet on platform X remains accessible online.
In response, Atishi accused Congress of collaborating secretly with the BJP to weaken AAP.
Atishi specifically pointed out Congress candidates like Sandeep Dikshit and Farhad Suri, accusing them of receiving “covert support” from the BJP.
She added, “BJP is funding the candidates linked to Congress, our sources have informed us. We would like to ask Congress why would it speak BJP’s tunes while staying in a collaboration with the Aam Aadmi Party? If Congress is not working to help win the BJP, then it should take action against Ajay Maken who called Kejriwal an anti-national.”
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