Court admits defamation case against Manoj Tiwari

A Delhi court on Monday admitted a criminal defamation complaint against Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and spokesperson Harish Khurana for "defaming" an AAP volunteer by allegedly accusing him of assaulting chief minister Arvind Kejriwal during a poll rally.

In his complaint, Sushil Kumar also sought the prosecution of the BJP leaders for an alleged criminal conspiracy to defame the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi by terming the incident as "staged" by Kejriwal.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal directed the complainant to file certain evidence in the case and posted the matter for further hearing on May 30.

The complainant's advocate Mohd Irsad accused Tiwari of making "false" and "frivolous" statements with the intention to "malign the image of the complainant and the AAP amongst the electorate of Delhi".

"Accused number 1 (Tiwari) made an oral statement and accused number 2 (Khurana) made a written imputation on his Twitter account concerning the complainant and the AAP intending to harm the reputation of the complainant," the complaint said.

Kejriwal was atop an open jeep when a man wearing a red t-shirt jumped onto the vehicle and slapped him during a roadshow in West Delhi's Moti Nagar on May 4.

The attacker, identified by the police as 33-year-old Suresh, was arrested and an FIR was filed against him under relevant sections.

If convicted, the accused may get a maximum two-year jail term.