BJP member files Re 1 civil defamation suit against Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh

A BJP youth wing member has filed a civil defamation suit before a Delhi court seeking only Re 1 in damages from chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Sanjay Singh for allegedly sharing his pictures in media and falsely declaring him as the one who slapped former water minister Kapil Mishra on May 10.

Ankit Bhardwaj, the state executive member of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), a youth wing of BJP, sent a notice to Kejriwal and Singh seeking a public apology on May 13. None of them gave any reply to it, following which the civil suit has been filed, Bhardwaj said.

Besides the civil defamation suit, Bhardwaj has also filed a criminal defamation complaint against Kejriwal and Singh.

“The plaintiff (Ankit Bhardwaj) assess the damages at Rs 1 crore but the plaintiff has no knowledge of any valuable assets of the defendants (Singh and Kejriwal) so the plaintiff limits his claim to Re 1,” reads the civil suit.

Bhardwaj claimed that the AAP leaders had wrongly accused him in media of assaulting Mishra while the person apprehended from the spot for the alleged offence belonged to their own party.

In his complaint, Bhardwaj has claimed that Singh showed his Facebook profile picture on different news channels and declared him as the accused. He has further claimed that Kejriwal re-tweeted a tweet identifying him as the accused.

“It was revealed to the plaintiff (Bhardwaj) that the name of the person who attacked Kapil Mishra was also Ankit Bhardwaj. It is pertinent that the person who attacked was apprehended at the spot and the incident as well as his arrest has been captured and broadcasted. The person apprehended at the spot was clearly saying that he was an Aam Aadmi Party volunteer,” reads the civil suit.