Court denies journalist’s plea for quashing of summon issued in lawsuit

New Delhi [India], December 15 (ANI): A Delhi Court has dismissed the plea by journalist Swati Chaturvedi seeking the quashing of summons issued against her in a defamation case filed by BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga.
Swati had moved a revision petition challenging the summons issued by the magisterial court in May 2018, directing her to appear before the court.
Dismissing the revision Special Judge Sudhir Kumar Sirohi said the complainant was appointed spokesperson of a national party and the tweet regarding sexual harassment and arrest of the complainant had lowered the image of a public figure and that too, when he was representing a national party.
"Therefore, no illegality has been found in the order of May 17, 2018, passed by the magistrate court," the special judge said in the order passed on December 13.
In the defamation case filed by Bagga, he had alleged that the journalist had lowered his reputation and defamed him by falsely stating that the complainant was arrested in a sexual harassment case.
It was submitted by his counsel, advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, that the complainant was never arrested in any sexual harassment case. The tweet posted by the journalist harmed the reputation of the complainant, he added.
Bagga was appointed as BJP's Delhi spokesperson on March 14, 2016. (ANI)