New Delhi: The Rouse Avenue Court has issued a notice to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in connection with a defamation complaint filed by Lipika Mitra, the wife of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Somnath Bharti.
Sitharaman has been accused of “making and publishing defamatory, derogatory and libellous remarks in print and electronic media” against Mitra and Bharti during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In her complaint, Mitra alleged that the BJP leader had wrongly spoken about alleged marital discord between Mitra and Bharti for political gains, during a press conference on May 17, 2024.
Mitra further claimed that the libellous remarks were made with the sole intention of tarnishing Bharti’s reputation and weakening his chances of winning in the Lok Sabha elections.
Bharti, who was the Malviya Nagar MLA at the time, contested from the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency on an AAP ticket, losing to BJP’s Bansuri Swaraj.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Paras Dalal issued a notice to Sitharaman on May 19, noting that “the proposed accused is to be given the opportunity of being heard.”
The matter will be heard on June 12.
“Matter is at the stage of cognisance and in compliance of first proviso to section 223 BNSS, the proposed accused is to be given opportunity of being heard. Accordingly, let notice be issued to proposed accused returnable for June 12 at 12.30 PM,” Dalal said.
