Court rejects Sanjay Singh’s application seeking exemption from personal appearance
Saturday, 06/05/2017
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=176245&boxid=59002&uid=&dat=2017-05-06
Ludhiana : A local court on Friday, rejected the application of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh seeking exemption from personal appearance in a criminal defamation suit filed against him by former Punjab minister Bikram Majithia. The court asked AAP leader to appear on next hearing fixed on June 7.
Chief judicial magistrate first class Jagjeet Singh has also passed severe strictures against Sanjay Singh, according to Majithia’s counsel D S Sobti. The court has also rubbished all the excuses submitted by AAP leader to exempt himself from personal appearance in the case.
Sanjay had in his application seeking exemption from personal appearance maintained that he was a busy politician who was incharge of the party’s Parliamentary Affairs Committee (PAC) besides being incharge of state units of Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. He claimed that he had been granted bail in the case and that the complainant Bikram Majithia had also been granted exemption from personal appearance.Stating that no legal right vested in the accused to seek permanent exemption in the case, the court ordered Sanjay to be present in the court on June 7.
The court also disposed off an application filed for day to day hearing in the case by the complainant. Majithia had in his application maintained that the AAP leader was continuing to defame him unabatedly after getting bail in the case. He also maintained that an expeditious trial will be in the interest of the case and that he felt the accused will also welcome the application.
Surprisingly Sanjay Singh opposed the application. The court while ruling that expeditious justice was required to be given to the parties, said it cannot be done at the cost of old litigation pending before it.
