Court grants exemption to Arvind Kejriwal in Bidhuri defamation case

A Delhi court on Thursday granted exemption to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from personal appearance in a defamation case filed by BJP parliamentarian Ramesh Bidhuri.

Kejriwal's counsel Rishikesh Kumar and Neha Rastogi told Metropolitan Magistrate Harvinder Singh that Kejriwal has to attend a government meeting and he would not be able to attend court.

Defence counsel assured the court that Kejriwal will positively appear on the next date fixed for the hearing.

The court allowed Kejriwal's plea seeking exemption. It fixed June 6 as next date of hearing.

The court was hearing a defamation complaint filed by Bidhuri alleging that Kejriwal had made defamatory statements against him, terming him as a criminal in an interview to a private channel on July 17, last year.

Bidhuri told the court that Kejriwal's defamatory statements had maligned his image.