Ahmedabad: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh were granted permission by an Ahmedabad magistrate’s court to be exempted from their scheduled appearance in a defamation case on Thursday.

The duo is currently facing a criminal defamation case in Ahmedabad, where they were initially summoned to appear before the court on April 15. Subsequently, fresh summons were issued on May 23.

Lawyer Aum Kotwal, representing Kejriwal and Singh, presented exemption applications on behalf of his clients, citing the flood situation in Delhi and the subsequent difficulties faced by the people in the national capital.

Kotwal informed the court that the Delhi chief minister and the Rajya Sabha MP have been actively involved in addressing the rain-related issues and conducting meetings to mitigate the situation. Additional magistrate SJ Panchal accepted the exemption request and postponed the matter to July 26.

The complaint leading to the defamation case was filed by Gujarat University registrar Piyush Patel. He accused Kejriwal of defaming the institution through his statements such as: “If PM studied from Delhi University, Gujarat University, then Gujarat University should celebrate that their alumnus has become the Prime Minister and yet they are trying to hide it.” “The degree is not being shown because maybe the degree is fake, forfeited,” and “if the degree is there and it is real, then why is it not being given?”

Patel alleged that Singh defamed the Prime Minister with his statement: “Prime Minister is putting his all to prove a fake degree as right.” The defamatory remarks were made in the presence of the media and disseminated through Twitter, with the intention to tarnish the reputation of the university, according to the complainant.

The court proceedings will resume on July 26.

(IANS)