Delhi court dismiss defamation case filed by wife of AAP’s Somnath Bharti against Nirmala Sitharaman

A Delhi court on Wednesday dismissed a criminal defamation petition filed by Lipika Mitra, the wife of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Somnath Bharti, against the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Paras Dalal of Rouse Avenue Courts dismissed the case stating that the political opponent cannot be called to have defamed the other when they are presenting certain scenarios against an opposite candidate.

“This Court fails to find that the necessary ingredients of criminal defamation are prima facie not made out. The press conference and averments made by the respondents is nothing more than political discourse amongst rival and competing parties,” court said.

In her petition, Ms. Mitra had alleged that during the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign, Ms. Sitharaman made and circulated defamatory and derogatory statements against her in print and electronic media. The remarks were also broadcast on two television channels, she claimed and alleged that the statements were aimed at tarnishing the image of her husband and undermining his electoral prospects as an India Alliance candidate from the New Delhi Parliamentary Constituency. 

The petition further alleged that the remarks caused immense mental anguish to both her and her husband and damaged his public standing as an elected representative.

The case has been filed under Sections 356(1) and 356(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. 

“From the entire material on record, this Court is reminded of a rather unusual word which can describe the present complaint as well as the entire proceedings. The word is ‘floccinaucinihilipilification’, which implies ‘something valueless or worthless’. The present complaint is nothing but the word stated above, wherein a valueless or worthless material has been stretched too long,” the judge remarked.