Umamageswari Maruthappan
The Supreme Court Bench headed by CJI SA Bobde had stayed the proceedings against BJP MP Manoj Tiwari and BJP MLA Vijender Gupta in a defamation case filed by the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia.
The two accused had moved the Apex Court against the Delhi High Court’s order that dismissed the formers’ plea to quash the summons issued against them by the MLA/MP Court with regard to the alleged defamation case.
Sisodia had registered a complaint against Manoj Tiwari, Vijender Gupta, and other BJP members Hans Raj Hans, Pravesh Verma, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, and Harish Khurana for defaming him and the Delhi CM Mr. Arvind Kejriwal.
The accused persons are alleged to have made false corruption charges. “We are exposing a scam in which Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia are involved.”
“An RTI application has revealed that extra Rs 2,000 crore was given for constructions of rooms in schools that could’ve been constructed in only Rs 892 crore. Thirty-four contractors were given the task including their relatives,” Tiwari had said at a press conference,” the statement of Tiwari reads.
The complaint was registered under section 200 of the Criminal Procedure Code for offences under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for making false and defamatory statements.
On 28th November 2019, a Trial Court had held the accused guilty and issued summons, following which they approached the Delhi High Court.
However, on 17th December 2020, the High Court upheld the Trial Court’s conviction of criminal defamation and refused to quash the summons.
The accused later moved to the Supreme Court and the Bench stayed the proceedings.
