Delhi Minister Atishi appeared virtually on Saturday in response to a defamation complaint filed by BJP leader Praveen Shankar Kapoor. Metropolitan Magistrate Tanya Bamniyal scheduled the matter for hearing on July 23. Atishi was summoned on May 28, but the court did not issue a summons to Arvind Kejriwal, also named in Kapoor’s complaint.
The court noted that a court summons could not be served as the address was incorrect, though Kapoor’s counsel claimed they had served the summons. Atishi and senior counsel Ramesh Gupta appeared via video conference. The court directed that a copy of the complaint be provided to her counsel and noted the delivery report from Kapoor’s counsel.
The case was postponed for further proceedings on July 23. Before filing the complaint, Kapoor sent a legal notice to Atishi regarding her claims that the BJP approached her through a close contact to join the party. The notice, sent by Advocate Satya Ranjan Swain on behalf of Kapoor, accused Atishi of making false, scandalous, and defamatory statements to harm the BJP’s reputation.
The notice demanded Atishi withdraw her statement and issue a public apology. Atishi had alleged at a press conference that the BJP tried to coerce her into joining their party, threatening arrest by the Enforcement Directorate if she refused. She accused the BJP-led Centre of using probe agencies to intimidate her party and stated her resolve to continue working under Arvind Kejriwal’s leadership despite the threats. She also predicted that more AAP leaders, including Raghav Chadha and Saurabh Bharadwaj, would be arrested before the general elections.