The Delhi High Court on Thursday rejected a plea of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia seeking a stay of trial court proceedings in a criminal defamation complaint filed by an advocate.
But Justice I.S. Mehta allowed the plea of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders seeking exemption from personal appearance before the trial court on April 6.
The court's direction were issued while hearing a defamation complaint filed by an advocate, Surender Kumar Sharma.
Sharma alleged that in 2013 the AAP asked him to contest the Delhi assembly election on the party ticket, saying Kejriwal was pleased with his social work. But it did not field him.
On October 14, 2013, Sharma claimed, articles in leading newspapers carried "defamatory, unlawful and derogatory words used by the accused" which lowered his reputation.
Sharma has also accused now Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav, who was a member of the National Executive of the AAP till 2015.
