Senior Delhi Congress leader and candidate from the New Delhi Assembly seat, Sandeep Dikshit has filed civil and criminal defamation lawsuits against Chief Minister Atishi and MP Sanjay Singh and other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders.
The case stems from accusations made by the two leaders during a press conference on December 26, 2024, in New Delhi, where they alleged that Dikshit had accepted "crores of rupees" from the BJP and conspired with the party to sabotage AAP's chances in the upcoming elections.
Dikshit vehemently denied the claims and termed them as baseless and defamatory. He is seeking Rs 10 crore in damages for the harm caused to his reputation. The civil defamation case was listed for hearing on Monday before the bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, but the matter was adjourned until February.
Notices issued to Atishi, Sanjay Singh
Advocate Sarim Javed appeared before the Delhi High Court for Plaintiff Sandeep Dikshit. Meanwhile, in a related criminal defamation case, Delhi's Rouse Avenue court issued notices to Atishi and Sanjay Singh last week. The notices were issued by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Paras Dalal in which the AAP leaders are asked to appear on January 27, 2025, to respond to the charges.
Filed through his lawyer Sarim Naved, Dikshit's complaint accuses the two AAP leaders of making unsubstantiated defamatory statements during their press conference without any material evidence to back them up.
The complaint further emphasized that Atishi shared a live stream of the press conference on her X (formerly Twitter) account, with the caption: "BJP is helping Congress in the Delhi election." The tweet, which has garnered over 30,000 views, along with the widespread media coverage of the defamatory statements, has further damaged Dikshit's reputation, the complaint claims.
Dikshit argued that these actions clearly amount to defamation, as they were made with the intent to harm his standing. The legal notices were sent on January 2, 2025, but the defamatory tweet remains accessible online, continuing to tarnish Dikshit's image, the complaint added.
(With ANI Inputs)