Punjab minister in favour of daily hearings in defamation cases

Punjab Revenue minister Bikram Singh Majithia on Saturday said he was in favour of day-to-day hearings in his criminal defamation cases against AAP leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in the state.

Majithia, who is accused by the Aam Aadmi Party leadership of patronising the drug trade in Punjab, has filed defamation cases against Kejriwal and other AAP leaders in courts in Ludhiana and Amritsar.

However, Majithia has not moved any application in the courts to seek day-to-day hearings.

He said he was seeking day-to-day hearings "so that the process to put them (AAP leaders) behind bars could be speeded up".

On the other hand, the AAP leaders have said that Majithia is deliberately opting for court cases so that the process of law lingers on.

As for AAP leaders dare to him to register cases against them and to get them arrested by Punjab Police, he said: "When courts are already seized of the matter and a case pertaining to criminal defamation has been filed by me as a law abiding citizen, they are demanding they be arrested for the same offences immediately by the Punjab Police. If this is not playing to the gallery what is?"

He said the AAP leaders will be arrested and taught a lesson for their alleged criminal conduct.

"But it will be the courts which will order the arrests and send you behind bars," Majithia said, making it clear he will not get police cases registered against the AAP leaders.

Majithia, a cabinet minister in Punjab, is the brother-in-law of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. He (Majithia) is the younger brother of union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Badal.

--IANS

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