A Delhi court has refused to quash the summons issued against journalist Swati Chaturvedi in a defamation case filed by BJP spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga.
The court dismissed the petition filed by Chaturvedi against a magisterial court order passed in May 2018 directing her to appear before the court in the case filed by Bagga.
Special judge Sudhir Kumar Sirohi said the tweet published by Chaturvedi about alleged sexual harassment by the politician “has lowered the image of a public figure, that too when he was representing a national party”. Bagga is a spokesperson for the BJP.
“Therefore no illegality has been found in the order passed by the Metropolitan Magistrate,” the judge said in an order passed on December 13.
According to the original complaint filed by Bagga before the Metropolitan Magistrate, Chaturvedi had lowered his reputation by falsely stating that he was arrested in a sexual harassment case.
Bagga’s advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava said the tweet was made after he was appointed the spokesperson.
