Kejriwal made defamatory, slandering statements: DDCA VP

Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) Vice-President Chetan Chauhan today alleged before a court here that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had made “defamatory, slandering and incorrect” statements about the cricketing body before the media.

The statement was recorded during pre-summoning evidence before Metropolitan Magistrate Abhilash Malhotra in a defamation complaint filed by Chauhan against Kejriwal and suspended BJP MP Kirti Azad for allegedly defaming DDCA by making “scandalous” remarks.

“Statements made by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal before media were factually incorrect, defamatory and slandering,” Chauhan, whose statement remained inconclusive, said through his counsel advocate Sangram Patnaik.

The court will continue recording the pre-summoning evidence on April 2.

The petition filed by Chauhan has alleged that defamatory statements were made by Kejriwal and Azad, who himself is a member of DDCA, “to remain in the public eye and to gain political mileage”.

“The aforesaid actions of the accused have severely damaged the credibility and reputation of the complainant in the eyes of thousands of cricket lovers, citizens of India as well as internationally.

“It has always been a serious apprehension, which has come true in this case, where provocative statements, irrespective of their falsity, have entered the realm of the Internet and social media, and are being republished and forwarded again and again making it next to impossible to squelch the same,” the petition said.

The plea alleged that Kejriwal had made “scandalous” remarks against DDCA on national television due to which the cricketing body and Chauhan have suffered irreparable loss in the public eye.

It claimed Kejriwal’s “false” statements were immediately endorsed and repeated by Azad.

It referred to Kejriwal’s interview to a news channel in which he had allegedly said that apart from the financial irregularities, there were other major wrong doings in DDCA, including “sex racket”.

The plea, while denying all allegations levelled by Kejriwal and Azad, said they have purportedly given “wholly incorrect and false, baseless and grossly defamatory” statements against the cricketing body.