Kejriwal granted bail in defamation case, furnishes bond

A court here Wednesday granted bail to former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and two other AAP leaders - after the three furnished personal bonds - in a criminal defamation case filed against them by an advocate.

Metropolitan Magistrate Muneesh Garg granted bail to Kejriwal, former state minister Manish Sisodia and Aam Aadmi Party leader Yogendra Yadav and asked them to furnish a personal bond of Rs.10,000 each. The three leaders furnished the personal bonds and were released.

Kejriwal and others appeared in the court following summons issued against them on a defamation complaint filed by advocate Surender Kumar Sharma.

Sharma, in his complaint, said that before the December 2013 Delhi polls, AAP volunteers approached him and asked him to contest the election from Shahdara in east Delhi on a party ticket saying that Kejriwal was pleased with his social services.

Sharma further added that he incurred expenses of about Rs.5 lakh on the campaign but on Oct 14, 2013, read articles in leading daily newspapers in which "derogatory and defamatory language" was used against him.

Sharma alleged that "defamatory, unlawful and derogatory words used by the accused persons as published in the newspapers" lowered his reputation in the bar and society. It also mentioned that AAP had decided to replace its candidate from the Shahdara constituency, he said.

The articles quoted a party statement saying that it was found that there were criminal cases and FIRs pending against Sharma and that in his application, he had failed to mention about it.The court has posted the matter for further hearing Aug 16.