New Delhi, November 17: The Patiala House Court on Saturday discharged chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the criminal defamation case filed by Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana Subhash Chandra, saying that Chandra had not followed proper procedure while filing his plea. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal noted that Chandra had filed the complaint through a power of attorney which is barred under law.

While the court discharged Kejriwal from the case, it allowed Chandra to file a fresh complaint in accordance with law. Chandra, chairman of the Essel group, had on November 17, 2016 moved the court through a power of attorney to Gulshan Kumar Sachdeva, seeking prosecution of Kejriwal for allegedly defaming him by levelling false allegations in the wake of demonetisation. AAP Says Delhi Police Discriminating, Filed FIR Against Kejriwal but Not Against Tiwari.

In his plea, Chandra, chairman of the Essel group, had alleged that the AAP national convenor, while addressing a press conference on November 11 last year, had made “false, fabricated and defamatory allegations” against him.

The complaint claimed that Kejriwal, while addressing the press conference, “without any lawful basis or justification, dragged the name of the complainant in the entire facade, which has defamed and lowered the reputation of complainant in the eyes of general public and thus accused person (Kejriwal) has committed the offence of criminal defamation.”

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 17, 2018 07:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).