Court acquits Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia in 2013 case

New Delhi: A Delhi court acquitted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and former AAP leader Yogendra Yadav in a criminal defamation case on Saturday. The case was filed by a lawyer in connection with the 2013 assembly elections, IANS reported.

The Rouse Avenue Court bench of Magistrate Vidhi Gupta Anand ruled in favour of the trio, and the detailed order of the ruling will be released later on the day.

Lawyer Surendar Sharma, who filed the case, claimed that his candidature with an AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) ticket in the 2013 elections was withdrawn at the last minute.

According to Sharma, AAP approached him in 2013 and requested him to contest in the Delhi Assembly elections. He was told that Kejriwal was pleased with his social work, and that was why he was offered the party ticket, he alleged.

He said that Sisodia and Yadav told him that AAP's Political Affairs Committee had decided to give him the ticket. Thus, he filed an application form to become a candidate, but later, he was denied the party candidature.

He accused the trio of using defamatory, unlawful and derogatory words against him on October 14, 2013, and the leading newspapers carried the same, tarnishing his reputation in both the Bar and society.