Delhi court refuses to stay defamation case by GS Shekhawat against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot

A special court in Delhi dealing with cases against legislators has refused to stay the summons issued by a magisterial court against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in a defamation case filed by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat [Ashok Gehlot v. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat]..Special Judge NK Nagpal saw "no reason or ground" to either stay the proceedings against Gehlot or the direction of the magisterial court summoning him.“...this court sees no reason or ground for staying the proceedings of the above complaint case or as to why appearance cannot be filed by the petitioner in the said court through video-conferencing (VC) mode, when VC or hybrid hearings in Delhi Courts have been permitted by the High Court,” the order stated..An additional chief metropolitan magistrate had on July 6 said that Gehlot prima facie made “specific defamatory statements” against Shekhawat. “Further, it prima facie appears that the aforesaid defamatory statements of the accused have been sufficiently published in the newspaper/electronic media/social media, which may make the right thinking members of the society shun the complainant,” it added..In the revision plea against the order of the magisterial court, Gehlot through his counsel contended that he order was “incorrect, illegal and improper”. It was argued that the court did not take cognisance of the offence, and therefore, it couldn’t have summoned the petitioner as an accused.His counsel further submitted that Gehlot’s statements or speeches made against Shekhawat and his family members through the electronic or print media were based on records of a criminal case currently under investigation and, as a result, were not defamatory..On the contrary, Shekhawat’s counsel pointed out that inquiry reports of the Delhi Police indicated that Gehlot’s statements were defamatory in nature and weremeant to defame and tarnish the former’s image.After hearing both parties, the court said,"However, in considered opinion of this court, the above legal and factual issues being raised from both sides can only be considered and appreciated by this court after the respondent comes up with his formal reply and detailed arguments on facts as well as on law take place before the court."It directed the magisterial court to not insist on Gehlot’s personal physical presence, and allowed him to join the proceedings virtually..The case relates to Gehlot’s purported statements and speeches published in the media against Shekhawat. These statements were stated to be defamatory, made to damage his reputation for settling political scores. The statements pertained to one Sanjeevani scam, which is stated to be the subject matter of an investigation by local police in Jaipur. The alleged scam pertains to allegations made against the proprietors and employees of Sanjeevani Cooperative Society who usurped about ₹900 crore of investors’ money.The matter will be heard again on August 19..Senior Advocates Dayan Krishnan, Mohit Mathur and GS Bapna along with Advocates Mudit Jain, Kunal Dewan, Aarohi Mikkilineni, Rishi Gupta, Sanjeevi Sheshadri, Mayank Sharma and Rudraksh Nakra represented Ashok Gehlot.Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa along with Advocates Abhishek Pati, Sanskriti S Gupta, Shishant and Aditya Vikram Singh appeared for Gajendra Singh Shekhawat..[Read Order]