Kejriwal, Sisodia get bail in defamation case filed by Vijender Gupta

New Delhi, July 16: A Delhi Court on Tuesday granted bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in a criminal defamation complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijender Gupta.

Gupta had alleged the CM and his deputy of "maligning" his image by accusing him of attempting to kill Kejriwal.

The court said that both have to furnish a bail bond of Rs 10,000 each. The next date of hearing in this case has been fixed for July 25.

Gupta had filed a defamation suit against Kejriwal and Sisodia for attempting to 'frame' him in an alleged assassination plot against Kejriwal.

Vijender Gupta, who is the leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, has claimed in the complaint that due to widespread circulation of tweets and news reports on the statement of the two AAP leaders, his reputation was harmed for which they have not expressed any remorse or apologised.

According to reports, the defamation suit was filed under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for "willfully, deliberately, intentionally and maliciously" defaming the complainant, "on wholly and completely false, frivolous, unjustifiable and scandalous grounds and thereby, harming the goodwill and reputation of the complainant, within the political fraternity, media, friends, family, colleagues and in society at large."

During the general election, Arvind Kejriwal had said in an interview to a Punjabi channel that the BJP wanted to get him killed by his own personal security officer (PSO) in the manner in which Indira Gandhi had been assassinated.