Conspiracy against Prime Minister is treason: Delhi High Court observes

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday orally remarked that conspiracy against the Prime Minister amounts to treason and is a very serious offence..Justice Jasmeet Singh further said that an allegation that someone conspired against the Prime Minister, cannot be made irresponsibly and needs to be based on cogent and substantial reasons."Conspiracy to target the PM is an offence under IPC. It is treason," the Court remarked.The Court was hearing a defamation suit filed by Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Member of Parliament (MP) and Senior Advocate Pinaki Misra against advocate Jai Anant DehadraiDehadrai has been accusing Misra of being in a conspiracy to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi.The Court told Dehadrai's counsel that it had no problem with his exercise of freedom of expression but what Dehadrai was saying had serious consequences as it affected the highest office of the country.It questioned how Dehadrai was accusing Misra of conspiracy against Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.A conspiracy against PM amounts to treason and unless Dehadrai is able to substantiate such an allegation against Misra, an injunction order will be passed, the Court told Dehadrai."These are very serious allegations against the PM. You can't be trigger happy. I have a problem here. You are alleging serious allegations of conspiracy against the PM by a sitting MP. You explain it or I will injunct you," the Court said..The Court added that it cannot permit "trigger happy" accusations of there being a conspiracy against the PM."It is a very limited issue which is bothering me. When you say conspiracy against the PM, it is a very serious issue. You can't be trigger happy. You may say plaintiff is a politician and he can't be thin skinned, I agree with that. But what you are alleging is very serious," it said.The Court also observed that Misra was a reputed member of the Bar. "He is a respected member of the bar, so are you. You can't do this," the Court told Dehadrai. .Misra has sued Dehadrai for levelling allegations of corruption against him and called him “Canning Lane”, “Odia Babu” and “Dalal of Puri”. The case has its origins in Misra's relations with Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra, who was earlier in a relationship with Dehadrai.Besides seeking an apology from Dehadrai and damages, Misra has sought directions to restrain him from making defamatory allegations and for taking down of the defamatory content available on X (Twitter) as well as on the platforms of news organisations PTI and ANI..Advocate Samudra Sarangi, representing Misra, argued today that that there was no references to him in the Lokpal order against against Moitra under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) in connection with the cash-for-query case.He also said Misra had not "targeted" the PM Modi as was being alleged by Dehadrai. The Court was further told that Dehadrai can't place him in a "room together with Darshan Hiranandani and Moitra"."My party is ideologically aligned with the BJP and the Prime Minister," Sarangi told the Court..During the hearing, Dehadrai also addressed the Court and said he had directly witnessed conversations between Moitra and Misra."Misra would write her (Moitra's) speeches and explain what kind of allegations to make," he said.However, the Court said,"Once the Plaintiff says he has same ideology as the Prime Minister, it is over no?"Dehadrai went on to say Misra had committed treason. He also said that he will place on record the CBI complaint which will reveal Misra's involvement. "The matter may be listed tomorrow so that he can place on record his CBI complaint," Dehadra's counsel advocate Raghav Awasthi said."We will come after lunch, not even tomorrow. There are specific finding against this gentlemen," Dehadrai contended.The Court then posted the case for further hearing at 2.30 pm today.The counsel representing the ANI, Advocate Siddhanth Kumar it had only reported on legal proceedings and Dehadrai's interview to the news agency was part of that."We asked him (Dehadrai) questions about the inquiry because he was the complainant. I am only concerned about that. I am not concerned with other statements," Kumar said.The Court made it clear that it will not gag media. .In his suit, the MP from Odisha's Puri constituency has said that he shares a close friendship with Dehadrai’s former partner and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra and became acquainted with Dehadrai through common friends, social circles and has had limited interactions with him.The suit alleges that after Dehadrai and Moitra separated, he made various allegations of bribery and corruption against Moitra and he also referred to Misra as the “MP from Orissa”, who was allegedly a “close associate of Smt Mahua Moitra”.“Thereafter, in November 2023, Defendant No. 1 (Dehadrai) continued making a barrage of allegations not only against Ms Moitra, but persons with whom she shared a personal relationship, including the Plaintiff,” the suit states. .Misra has also told the Court that in November 2023, Dehadrai started publishing a series of tweets on X (Twitter) in which pseudonyms like “Canning Lane” and “Oriya/Odia Babu” were used against him and and it was alleged that he (Misra) was involved in criminal conspiracies.A complaint made by the Dehadrai to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also alleged that an amount of ₹2 crore was kept with Misra to make purchases on behalf of Moitra of high value items such as furniture, the suit states.In this regard, Misra has said that the furniture was bought by him for his own use prior to the time (May 2021) when the cash was allegedly given to him by Moitra as per the CBI complaint.“The Defendant No. 1 has also created a pseudonymous account on Defendant No. 4’s platform by the name of “Chandrawami Pinaki Moitra” / “Ahmed Ansari”, through which Defendant No. 1 has not only continued to post such vile, malicious and per se defamatory allegations, but has also commented to confirm that the use of “Canning Lane”/“Odia Babu”/“Dalal of Puri” in Defendant No. 1’s tweets refers to the Plaintiff.”.Earlier Mahua Moitra had also sued Dehadrai for defamation. However, the High Court had denied interim relief to the TMC leader in the suit.Dehadrai has also filed a defamation case against Moitra. The High Court is still seized of the matter.