Delhi Court frames defamation notice against AAP's Sanjay Singh after BJYM leader Ankit Bhardwaj files complaint

Ankit Bhardwaj, in his complaint said that on 10 May, a person reportedly named Ankit Bhardwaj attacked a Delhi Minister when he was sitting on a protest and it was later found that the attacker was an AAP volunteer.

New Delhi: A court here on Wednesday framed a defamation notice against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and parliamentarian Sanjay Singh following a defamation complaint filed by Ankit Bhardwaj - a state executive member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal framed the notice under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with defamation.

Bhardwaj, in his complaint said that on 10 May, a person reportedly named Ankit Bhardwaj attacked Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra when he was sitting on a protest and it was later found that the attacker was an AAP volunteer.

But AAP activists and some senior leaders picked Ankit Bhardwaj of the BJP and declared that he was the one who attacked Mishra and also spread this information in the media as well as the social media.

“Sanjay Singh also declared him as the assailant by showing his Facebook profile and Arvind Kejriwal retweeted a tweet naming him as the accused,” the BJYM leader said.

He alleged that the AAP members’ acts had tarnished his image in the minds of party leaders, relatives, friends and the public at large, and thus harmed his reputation.