Court grants bail to Delhi minister Atishi in defamation case

Atishi. Pic/PTI

A court on Tuesday granted bail to Delhi minister Atishi in a defamation case filed by a BJP leader over her claim that several AAP MLAs were approached by the saffron party with offers of cash to bring down the Arvind Kejriwal government.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Tanya Bamniyal granted bail to Atishi in the case filed by BJP leader Praveen Shankar Kapoor after she appeared before the court pursuant to summons.

The judge granted the relief to the senior AAP leader on a bail bond of Rs 20,000 and one surety of the like amount.

Atishi was reported to have claimed 21 AAP MLAs were contacted by the BJP, which offered Rs 25 lakh to each of them, to switch over to the saffron camp.

The judge will further take up the matter on August 8 for scrutiny of documents and arguments on framing of notice (charges).

The judge had on May 28 refused to summon Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the defamation case.

Accusing Atishi of making false claims about poaching attempts on AAP MLAs, Kapoor, a BJP spokesperson, had moved the court with a criminal defamation complaint. He had said the AAP leader had failed to furnish evidence to support her claim.

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