DDCA case: Delhi court discharges Kejriwal, Kirti Azad in defamation suit

Delhi's Patiala House Court discharged Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and former cricketer and MP Kirti Azad from allegations made in criminal defamation complaint filed against them by Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA)and its then Vice President Chetan Chauhan for allegedly defaming the cricketing body.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal heard the arguments from the complainants and the accused persons, including suspended BJP MP Kirti Azad.

The DDCA and Chauhan had filed the complaint alleging that the defamatory statements were made by Kejriwal and Azad, who was himself then a DDCA member, "perhaps to remain in the public eye and to gain political mileage".

It had alleged that the actions of Kejriwal and Azad "severely damaged" the credibility and reputation of the DDCA in the eyes of thousands of cricket lovers, citizens of India as well as internationally. It claimed Kejriwal's "false" statements were immediately endorsed and repeated by Azad.

In his application, the AAP leader's advocate Rishi Kumar claimed there was not an iota of evidence that Chauhan and any other DDCA official were "personally" defamed. "There is no aggrieved person in the complainants and the complaint needs to be be dismissed," the advocate for Kejriwal said.

(With PTI inputs)