NEW DELHI: Bhartiya Janta Party MPs, including Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, Manoj Tiwari and Hans Raj Hans, have told a Delhi court that utterance of words like “scam/ghotala” does not by itself constitute defamation, while requesting the court for discharge in a defamation case filed by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.
Counsels appearing for the MPs submitted before the court of additional chief metropolitan magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal that the the “apex court has categorically held that mere usage of certain words illustratively — ‘ghapla’ and ‘ghotala’ — do not, by itself, constitute defamation.”
Next hearing of the matter has been scheduled on November 5.
Sisodia filed the case in 2019 against Tiwari, Hans Raj Hans, and Verma, former MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa and BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana for alleging corruption of nearly Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools.
Advocate Shivam Chaudhary, counsel for Parvesh Verma drew the attention of the court to reply of an RTI dated May 23, 2018 and June 2019 in which the public information officer, office of chief engineer project, government of NCT of Delhi, said that there was sanction of 12,748 rooms against a sanctioned cost of Rs 2,892.6 crore.
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