Delhi court grants bail to AAP leaders Atishi, others in defamation case

A Delhi court Friday granted bail to AAP leaders Atishi and others in a defamation case filed by the BJP against them for their remarks over deletion of voters’ names from electoral rolls in the city.

AAP’s Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Gupta, MLA Manoj Kumar were also granted relief on a personal bond of Rs 10,000 each after the three appeared before the court.

However, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal failed to appear before the court Friday. The court directed him to appear on July 16.

BJP leader Rajeev Babbar, who moved the petition on behalf of the party’s Delhi unit, sought proceedings against them for “harming” the reputation of the BJP by blaming it for the deletion of the names of “voters” from electoral rolls here.

He claimed the AAP leaders had, during a press conference held in December last year, alleged that on the directions of the BJP names of 30 lakh voters from Bania, Poorvanchali and the Muslim community had been deleted by the Election Commission.