The Delhi High Court has passed an interim order today that restrains the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leaders from making any allegations against Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.
Justice Amit Bansal in his order has mentioned that the AAP leaders need to take down some of the defamatory tweets posted by AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Atishi and Saurabh Bhardwaj from their account on urgent basis.
The Senior Advocates Mahesh Jethmalani and Advocate Maninder Singh appeared for the Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena to argue that the allegations made by AAP are defamatory.
The lawyers of LG said that the defendants have not been able to show anything to substantiate their allegations, while the only documents that they could give were non-existent and forged.
Advocate Manunder Singh said that the tweets and press conferences of AAP along with his Functionaries say Vinai Kumar Saxena ne Rs 1400 crore ka ghotala kiya (Saxena was involved in a scam of ₹1,400 crore) day in and day out They may not take any names but we know they are referring to VK Saxena.
The counsel argued that the person they have referred to , is a high constitutional functionary who cannot come out in public and defend himself and thus it becomes important that we maintain the decency.
The suit sought for an injunction order to be passed against these leaders and that they be directed to take down all tweets, posts or videos in reference to the allegations against the LG.
AAP was represented by Senior Advocates Sandeep Sethi and Advocate Rajiv Nayar, who argued that Court should not pass an interim injunction order at this stage.
They added that whether or not there is truth to the allegations cannot be decided at present.
Advocate Sethi said that we plead truth and justification and there is no question for injunction. The allegation is during this person’s (Saxena) tenure at KVIC, two people were arrested. They can say that this is hearsay, but the fact is two people have gone on record to say that this happened…
The AAP lawyer also added that the principles laid down by the courts suggest that the public functionaries must be open to criticism and that they have to be thick-skinned.
Counsel for the AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said that as a political party, it is my duty to bring all these issues to public notice.
He further added that the LG is not above law. I am not seeking investigation against him for something he did while being LG, but for his conduct during his tenure at KVIC.
A defamation suit was filed by Saxena gainst the AAP leaders for levelling ‘derogatory’ and ‘malicious’ charges against him.
The AAP legislators had also alleged in the Delhi Assembly that Saxena had pressured his employees to exchange demonetised currency.
The AAP leaders had alleged that Saxena had done irregularities and awarded a contract for the interior design of Khadi lounge in Mumbai to his daughter.
The party demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the matter and called for Saxena’s arrest.
The LG had sent a legal notice to AAP leaders earlier this month asking them to issue a press statement directing all party members
However, the AAP leaders had refused to do so, resulting in the defamation suit.