Court to hear DDCA defamation plea on March 10

A Delhi court on Tuesday fixed March 10 for hearing a criminal defamation complaint filed by the Delhi and District Cricket Association and its vice president Chetan Chauhan against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and suspended Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirti Azad for allegedly defaming the cricketing body by making "scandalous" remarks.

The matter was posted for the next date as Metropolitan Magistrate Abhilash Malhotra was on leave.

The court had earlier posted the complaint for Tuesday for consideration and arguments. Chauhan was also present in the court along with his advocate for the proceedings.

The petition has alleged that the defamatory statements were made by Kejriwal and Azad, who himself is a member of the DDCA, "to remain in the public eye and to gain political mileage".

"The aforesaid actions of the accused have severely damaged the credibility and reputation of the complainant in the eyes of thousands of cricket lovers, citizens of India as well as internationally.

"It has always been a serious apprehension, which has come true in this case, where provocative statements, irrespective of their falsity, have entered the realm of the internet and social media, and are being republished and forwarded again and again making it next to impossible to squelch the same," the petition, filed through advocate Sangram Patnaik, said.

The plea alleged that Kejriwal had made "scandalous" remarks against the DDCA before the national television due to which the cricketing body and Chauhan have suffered irreparable loss in the public eye.

It claimed that Kejriwal's "false" statements were immediately endorsed and repeated by Azad.

It referred to Kejriwal's interview to a news channel in which he had allegedly said that apart from the financial irregularities, there were other major wrong doings in the DDCA, including "sex racket".

"That the accused being public figures chose the platform of media, being fully aware of the scope of damage that would be caused to the reputation of the complainant by their false allegations," the plea alleged.

It further claimed that "it is evident that the accused have chosen the time of their liking, for reasons yet to be fully divulged, in making false statements in order to harm, lower, damage and jeopardize the credibility and reputation of the complainant in the eyes of the public".

The plea, while denying all allegations levelled by Kejriwal and Azad, said they have purportedly given "wholly incorrect and false, baseless and grossly defamatory" statements against the cricketing body.