CM`s defamation case: BJP leader withdraws pleas in Delhi HC

Vijender Gupta withdrew from Delhi HC his two pleas filed against a lower court orders on a criminal complaint lodged by CM Sheila Dikshit.

New Delhi: BJP leader Vijender Gupta on Tuesday withdrew from the Delhi High Court his two pleas filed against a lower court orders on a criminal complaint lodged by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit accusing him of using uncivilized language against her. "I have instructions to withdraw the petitions," the counsel for BJP leader told Justice JR Midha who then allowed the request. Gupta had filed separate petitions challenging two orders of a lower court by which he was summoned as an accused and then defamation charges were framed against him respectively in the case. The magisterial court had on August 6 found "prima facie" evidence against Gupta and ordered framing under section 500 (defamation) of the IPC against him in the case. The Chief Minister had lodged a complaint in a lower court alleging that the BJP leader used uncivilized language against her in the run up to MCD polls last year. Earlier, during the hearing, Dikshit`s lawyer Mehmood Pracha had told the High Court that the Chief Minister did not want "unnecessary" litigation and was willing to be "magnanimous" if Gupta comes "forward with the truth".

The counsel for Gupta had opposed the framing of charges in the case saying the orders to summon and then frame charges against the leader were passed "without any legally admissible evidence." "The trial court should not have allowed the CM to exhibit newspaper clippings during pre-summoning evidence as they can only be proved by the newspapers only," the lawyer had said. Gupta, in his appeals, had said Dikshit instituted a false and frivolous complaint on the basis of newspapers reports which had published his interview. PTI