Delhi court dismisses Parvesh Verma’s defamation complaint against Saurabh Bharadwaj

• A Delhi court dismissed minister Parvesh Verma’s criminal defamation complaint against AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj.

• The magistrate found that the remarks attributed to Bharadwaj were framed as questions and did not amount to defamation.

• The complaint concerned social media posts allegedly linking Verma to a school-related POCSO case; a detailed order is awaited.

A Delhi court on Saturday dismissed a criminal defamation complaint filed by Delhi minister Parvesh Verma against Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj, finding that the statements at the centre of the dispute were in the nature of questions and did not amount to defamation.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Neha Mittal declined to take cognisance of the complaint. A detailed order setting out the court’s reasoning is awaited.

Verma had contended that Bharadwaj published false and malicious social media posts linking him to a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act concerning an incident at a school in his former West Delhi constituency. He claimed the posts damaged his reputation.

The complaint alleged that Bharadwaj’s remarks insinuated that Verma had used his political influence to favour school officials connected with the case. Those assertions formed part of Verma’s complaint and were not findings against him.

The proceedings had been under way for several months. The court recorded Verma’s statement and witness testimony in July, before issuing a pre-cognisance notice to Bharadwaj in August seeking his response. Arguments on whether the complaint should proceed were subsequently heard in August and September.

Saturday’s decision brings the complaint to an end at that preliminary stage, with the magistrate declining to proceed on the basis of the remarks presented before her. The detailed order is expected to explain how the court assessed the wording and context of the disputed posts.

The case also formed part of a wider political confrontation between the two leaders. They have traded accusations since Verma slapped an AAP supporter during a road inspection in Vikaspuri amid complaints about poor-quality public works.

The court’s decision concerns the defamation complaint arising from Bharadwaj’s statements. It does not determine the merits of the underlying school-related POCSO case.

With IANS inputs