A city court, on Monday, framed defamation charges against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal for his alleged remarks against the Chief Minister during protests against power tariff hike in October 2012. The case was filed by CM’s Political Secretary. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Bansal said prima facie, defamation charges are made out against Kejriwal, who has been put on trial after he pleaded not guilty.
The court fixed January 18, 2014, for recording of evidence in the case. Complainant Pawan Khera, Officer on Special Duty and Political Secretary of Dikshit, had filed the defamation case against Kejriwal saying he had used “false, filthy” language against the CM on TV. The court said that the AAP leader had defamed Khera and used a defamatory term with intention to harm his reputation. “By use of the said word... you defamed complainant Khera, who has been working as the OSD/Political Secretary to Sheila Dikshit. You spoke the said word... intending to harm, or knowing or having reason to believe that such imputations will harm the reputation of Khera and thus, you defamed the complainant; and thereby you committed offence punishable under Section 500 (defamation) of the IPC,” the CMM said.