Lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai today withdrew his defamation case against Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra in Delhi High Court.
Justice Prateek Jalan recorded in his order that the counsel for the plaintiff upon instructions seeks permission to withdraw the suit, the suit is dismissed as withdrawn.
Advocate Dehadrai had sued Mahua Moitra for defamation. The advocate had argued that the former Member of Parliament (MP) from West Bengal made several defamatory allegations against him and gave interviews to the media alleging that he is jobless and jilted.
When the case came up for hearing today, advocate Raghav Awasthi appeared for Dehadrai and said that he is ready to withdraw the suit if the Trinamool leader makes a statement that she will not make a statement against him which is palpably false. Appearing for Mahua Moitra, Advocate Samudra Sarangi said that he will obtain instructions on the same.
Justice Pratek Jalan remarked that the suggestion by Dehadrai is positive that if the two sides come to an understanding about not making personal allegations against each other and if the dispute is taken out of public domain, it would benefit both sides.
Justice Jalan further added that the lawyers from two sides can sit together and come up with the wording of the order which will be applicable to both. Subsequently, Advocate Awasthi then said that he is withdrawing the suit unconditionally. The High Court allowed the request.
In the defamation suit, Jai Dehadrai had sought directions to restrain Mahua Moitra from making the defamatory allegations against him. The Rs 2 crore defamation suit also sought orders against media organisations namely CNN News 18, India Today, Gulf News, The Guardian and The Telegraph to take down the defamatory content against him and not to publish such content against him. In addition, similar directions had also been sought against X, formerly Twitter and Google.