HC reserves order on Manoj Tiwari's plea against summon in Sisodia's defamation case

Asking the counsels of both sides to submit their written submissions, Delhi High Court reserved its order on a plea filed by BJP MP Manoj Tiwari and MLA Vijender Gupta challenging summons issued against them by a trial court in a defamation case filed by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

New Delhi:The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its order on a plea filed by BJP MP Manoj Tiwari and MLA Vijender Gupta challenging summon issued against them by a trial court in a defamation case filed by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

A single-judge bench of Justice Anu Malhotra, after the conclusion of lengthy arguments, decided to keep order reserved in the matter.

The court also asked the counsels of both sides to submit their written submissions, if any. Manish Sisodia and Delhi Police opposed the pleas filed by Tiwari and Gupta.

Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa appeared for Manish Sisodia in the matter, while senior standing counsel Rahul Mehra represented the state. On the other hand, senior lawyer Pinki Anand and Sonia Mathur represented Manoj Tiwari and Vijender Gupta respectively.

Manoj Tiwari and Vijender Gupta, in their pleas, sought directions to quash the order passed by Rouse Avenue Court on November 28, 2019, issuing summons against them.

The trial court had also issued summons to BJP MPs Hans Raj Hans and Pravesh Verma and MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa.

Sisodia had filed a defamation case against BJP MPs Manoj Tiwari, Hans Raj Hans, Pravesh Verma, MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa, MLA Vijender Gupta and BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana for making false allegations regarding the former's involvement in corruption of Rs 2,000 crore in the building of classrooms of Delhi government schools.

All accused are out on bail in this matter.

Sisodia, in the defamation case, had said that all the allegations made by these BJP leaders were false, defamatory, derogatory and with an intention to harm and damage the reputation and goodwill of the Delhi Deputy Chief Minister.

ANI Report