New Delhi, Apr 30 (PTI) A Delhi court on Thursday set aside a ‘notice of accusation’ summoning BJP MLA Karnail Singh in a criminal defamation complaint filed by AAP leader Satyendar Jain.
Special Judge Jitendra Singh said, “The view taken by the trial court (magisterial court) that the applicability of statutory exceptions (to defamatory statement) can be examined only at the stage of trial is not in accordance with law.” He underlined that the magisterial court had to “undertake a limited examination of the alleged (defamatory) statements, the material on record, and the exceptions pleaded to determine whether sufficient grounds exist to proceed.” “Accordingly, the impugned order is set aside. The matter is remanded to the trial court to consider the applicability of the exceptions to the alleged statements, in the light of the observations made herein, and to pass a fresh order in accordance with law,” the judge said.
On April 1, the magisterial court had said that all the ingredients of defamation were prima facie established by Jain in his complaint and by his witnesses’ testimonies, which were sufficient to proceed with the trial.
Jain has accused Singh of damaging his reputation during a television interview. PTI MNR ARI
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