New Delhi: A Gujarat court has granted exemption to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh from appearing in court in a defamation case on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s degree. This came after the AAP leaders skipped the proceedings citing the unprecedented rain and flooding in the national capital.
The Gujarat University had filed a criminal defamation case over the AAP leaders’ statements against the varsity over Prime Minister Modi’s academic degree.
According to the Times of India, the advocates of Kejriwal and Singh said that Delhi has not witnessed such rainfall in the past 50 years, and that the chief minister and the MP are on the ground chairing meetings.
They filed an application under Section 309 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (power to postpone or adjourn proceedings) to keep the proceedings pending for some time on the ground that Kejriwal has filed a review petition against the Gujarat high court’s order fining him and persisting with the matter on Prime Minister Modi’s degree.
However, Gujarat University’s advocate opposed this demand, saying that the pendency of the review petition in the high court cannot have a bearing on the criminal defamation case.
Kejriwal and Singh’s advocates withdrew the application.
The court has adjourned the case till July 26.