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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was on Saturday summoned by a local court as an accused on a criminal defamation complaint filed against him for his alleged ‘thulla’ remark against Delhi Police with the magistrate saying that prima facie he committed the offence.
Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey sought the appearance of Kejriwal on July 14 after hearing pre-summoning arguments on the complaint filed by a constable posted at Lajpat Nagar police station in New Delhi.
“Prima facie, the court is satisfied that offence punishable under sections 499/500(defamation) of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) is committed by Arvind Kejriwal so he be summoned for the same... for July 14, 2016,” the magistrate said.
Constable Ajay Kumar Taneja, the complainant, claimed that being a member of Delhi Police he was defamed by the word used by Kejriwal.
In the complaint, filed through advocate L N Rao on July 23 last year, the constable claimed that Kejriwal had used the ‘derogatory’ term ‘thulla’ for policemen on a news channel while talking about the Aam Aadmi Party government’s ‘constraints’ in ensuring effective functioning of the Anti-Corruption Branch.
“If a word like thulla is used by an eminent personality like Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to refer to personnel of Delhi Police, then the general public would too have no respect or regard for police personnel who dedicate their entire lives to maintain law and order in Delhi,” it said.
The constable had earlier claimed to have called the office and residence of Kejriwal and also on the helpline numbers to talk to him but there was no ‘positive response’.
“That due to the acute agony and being mentally hurt by the attitude of Kejriwal towards Delhi Police, the complainant was unable to concentrate on his job as he was very much disturbed,” his plea said.
A similar complaint was filed against Kejriwal by another constable posted at Govind Puri police station here, which is pending before a court in New Delhi.