A city court on Saturday warned Arvind Kejriwal and three other AAP leaders that it would initiate coercive process if they fail to appear before it on May 24 in a criminal defamation complaint filed against them by Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal’s lawyer son Amit Sibal.
Metropolitan Magistrate Sunil Kumar Sharma told advocate Rahul Mehra, who appeared for Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Prashant Bhushan and Shazia Ilmi, that he should ensure that the accused appear before him on the next date of hearing. “Ensure that everybody is present on the next date (of hearing) otherwise I will initiate coercive process,” the court told Mehra and fixed the matter for hearing on May 24. The court also imposed a cost of Rs 2,500 each on Sisodia, Bhushan and Ilmi while allowing their plea seeking exemption from personal appearance for Saturday. It, however, allowed the exemption application of Kejriwal for Saturday and did not impose any cost on him on the ground that he himself is contesting the lok Sabha poll. All the four accused did not appear before the court on the ground they were busy in campaigning.