Delhi Court dismisses defamation case against Nirmala Sitharaman

A Delhi court on Wednesday dismissed the criminal defamation complaint filed by ex-AAP MLA Somnath Bharti’s wife against Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, saying there was no imputation against the complainant. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Paras Dalal described the complaint as a 29-letter word “floccinaucinihilipilification”, meaning something valueless or worthless, while observing that the “complaint is nothing but the word, wherein a valueless or worthless material has been stretched too long.” The magistrate said Sitharaman’s statements were nothing but political opposition and antagonism aimed at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the INDIA bloc.
The court said, “Nothing was aimed at the complainant Lipika Mitra (Bharti’s wife), and there is no imputation against her. Since no prima facie offence has been made out from the complaint of facts, this court declines to take cognisance of the offence.” The Magistrate said the necessary ingredients of criminal defamation were not made out. “The press conference and averments made by the respondent (Sitharaman) are nothing more than political discourse amongst rivals and competing parties,” he said.
The complaint had claimed that Sitharaman made “defamatory, false and malicious statements” in a press conference on May 17, 2024, with the sole intention to tarnish the reputation of Bharti and weaken his chances of winning in the general elections. According to the complaint, the utterances were made “solely with an intent to hurt the complainant and her husband” for political gains to the BJP’s candidate and political loss to the complainant’s husband during the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

Rejecting the claims, the Magistrate said, “From the entire material on record, this court is reminded of a rather unusual word which can describe the present complaint as well as the entire proceedings.” “The word is ‘floccinaucinihilipilification’, which implies ‘something valueless or worthless’. The present complaint is nothing but the word stated above, wherein a valueless or worthless material has been stretched too long.”

The court also pointed out that Sitharaman’s statements were not “false or concocted” but a reiteration of Mitra’s own allegations against her husband Bharti, which had been widely reported in the media. It said, “Even the complainant (Mitra) deposed that there was marital discord in her family, which was amicably settled; however, the complainant never withdrew her allegations against her husband, and the allegations of the complainant against her husband in the earlier FIR are still readily present on the news and articles available online and are part of judicial orders.”