On 24 December, a Delhi court issued a bailable warrant against BJP leader Kapil Mishra for non-appearance in a defamation case.
A criminal defamation petition was filed against BJP’s Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta, MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Kapil Mishra by Delhi’s Environment Minister Imran Hussein for allegedly accusing him of corruption. Reportedly, the three Respondents made ‘false and defamatory allegations’ against Hussein concerning cutting of trees in the national capital. Following the allegations, Hussein sent a legal notice to the leaders seeking apology by holding a press conference.
Hussain stated in the legal notice that Gupta made false charges of him taking Rs 23 crore as bribe to permit the felling of trees, which was run by several TV channels and newspapers.
“If Gupta, Sirsa, and Mishra failed to apologies within seven days, Imran Hussain shall be constrained to take civil as well as criminal action against them,” Hussain stated in his legal notice.
However, the three leaders failed to comply with the notice. Thus, Hussein filed a criminal defamation case and pleaded the court to initiate action against the three under various charges of defamation. He alleged that the statements made by the leaders were likely to badly jeopardize his aspirations in the forthcoming elections.
