A court on Tuesday granted bail to Delhi Minister Atishi in a defamation case filed by a BJP leader over her claim that several AAP MLAs were approached by the saffron party with offers of cash to bring down the Arvind Kejriwal government.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Tanya Bamniyal granted bail to Atishi in the case filed by BJP leader Praveen Shankar Kapoor after she appeared before the court pursuant to summons. The judge granted the relief to the senior AAP leader on a bail bond of Rs 20,000 and one surety of the like amount.
Atishi was reported to have claimed 21 AAP MLAs were contacted by the BJP, which offered Rs 25 lakh to each of them, to switch over to the saffron camp.
Reacting on the development, Kapoor said, “Delhi Government Minister Atishi physically appearing and taking bail from the Rouse Avenue Court in the matter of the Criminal Defamation case filed by myself we have won the first round of legal battle by bringing the case to trial stage.”
The judge will further take up the matter on August 8 for scrutiny of documents and arguments on framing of notice (charges). The judge had on May 28 refused to summon Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the defamation case.
Delhi BJP Media Head said that the AAP leader has lost the case politically and morally too as she came to court all alone with a personal surety. “No leader of AAP stood up for her as even a bail surety,” he said.
