|
The Rouse Avenue court on Saturday issued notice to AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj in a defamation complaint filed by Delhi Minister Parvesh Verma.
This defamation complaint is linked to social media posts in connection with a private school, namely S S Mota Singh. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Neha Mittal issued a pre-cognisance notice to Saurabh Bhardwaj seeking his response in the defamation complaint. The court has granted him an opportunity to be heard under Section 223 of the BNSS before consideration on the point of cognisance of the defamation complaint. The court issued the notice after recording the statements of Parvesh Verma and his witnesses. The matter has been listed on August 18 for a response from Saurabh Bhardwaj. Parvesh Verma was also present during the hearing along with his counsel, Vijay Bishnoi and Praveen Kumar. On July 15, the court recorded the statements of Kulbhushan Jain and Shakti Singh Sehrawat. Delhi Minister Parvesh Verma's statement was recorded on July 4. In his statement, Verma said that in May, Bhardwaj levelled false allegations against him in his social media posts, which caused substantial damage to his and his family's reputation. Verma filed this complaint alleging that AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj made objectionable remarks on social media, including X, Instagram, and Facebook, which damaged his reputation. The remarks were made to damage his personal life and political image, Parvesh Verma alleged. His friends and political workers called him and told him about these remarks, which caused damage to his reputation, Verma added. " I got to know about this defamatory post from my friends and party workers. They sent me the link of this post on WhatsApp. I saw the content of these posts," said Parvesh Verma. He further submitted that acquaintances who came to meet him during that time told him about the post. Two of his acquaintances talked to him about the post, and they were under the belief that he was involved in the incident. " I have contested elections 4 times, and my family has a political reputation. Saurabh Bhardwaj brought my name in social media in connection with a case under POCSO regarding an incident in a school in my previous constituency, West Delhi," Verma said. Verma alleged that Saurabh Bhardwaj falsely claimed that he was helping an accused in this case, that the school trust belongs to him, and that he appointed a person to the trust governing the school. He added that he has nothing to do with the trust or the school. "My family members or I have no connection with the school, namely S S Mota Singh," Verma has said. He further said that there is one member in the trust, namely Amardeep Singh. However, he was not associated with this person and was not involved in his appointment as a trust member. " People are still asking me about the allegations levelled by the proposed accused, which caused substantial damage to me socially and politically," Verma emphasised. The proposed accused neither contacted him nor apologised even after the service of the legal notice, Verma submitted, adding that Bhardwaj further falsely and mischievously stated that Parvesh Verma caused the files of the trust to disappear. He has also filed video clips from May 15 and tweets posted on the X handle of Saurabh Bhardwaj along with the complaint. (ANI)
|
