A Delhi court on Tuesday issued bailable warrant against BJP leader Kapil Mishra for non-appearance in a defamation case filed by Delhi’s Environment Minister Imran Hussein for allegedly accusing him of corruption.
Hussein had filed criminal defamation case alleging that BJP’s Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta, MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Mishra made “false and defamatory allegations” against him pertaining to cutting of trees in the national capital.
Hussein had pleaded the court to initiate action against the three leaders under the various charges related to defamation alleging that the statements made by the leaders was likely to badly jeopardize his aspirations in the forthcoming elections.
Before moving to the court, Hussein had sent a legal notice to the leaders seeking retraction from their statements and apologize by holding a press conference.
“If Gupta, Sirsa and Mishra failed to apologies within seven days, Imran Hussain shall be constrained to take civil as well as criminal action against them,” said the legal notice.
The legal notice further said: “The false, unfounded, uncorroborated and malicious imputations concerning Hussain and his party (AAP) was made by Gupta and others to harm his reputation.”
In the legal notice, the Delhi Minister had contented that Gupta made false charges that he took Rs 23 crore as bribe to permit the felling of trees, which was run by several TV channels and newspapers.
The legal notice was issued ensuing the blame game over cutting of trees for the Centre’s redevelopment project in south Delhi.
Accusing Hussein of corruption, Gupta had protested outside the Sarojini Nagar police station and accused the Kejriwal government of lying on the issue, while claiming that the AAP government itself granted approval for the cutting of trees, but is now blaming the Centre for it.
“As per the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994, (Delhi Act 1994) the city government is fully competent to grant approval for the felling of trees,” Gupta had claimed.
—India Legal Bureau