Earlier this year, Delhi minister Atishi said that the BJP attempted to topple the AAP government by contacting its MLAs and offered each of them Rs 25 crore to switch parties.
On Tuesday, a Delhi court granted bail to Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi in a defamation case filed against her by BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor. The court ordered her to provide bail bonds worth ₹20,000.
Previously in May, the court invited Atishi to testify about her claims that the BJP attempted to topple the AAP government by calling 21 of its MLAs and paying each of them Rs 25 crore to switch parties.
The court had not summoned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was also one of the accused in the case. Tanya Bamniyal, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM), previously stated that no prima facie case had been produced against Kejriwal to issue him summons.
On April 2, Atishi held a press conference, stating that she was approached by the BJP and told to join them or risk arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) within a month.
“They (AAP leaders) are trying to portray that the BJP is trying to subvert the government by illegal means,” counsel Amit Tiwari, representing Kapoor, told a Delhi court earlier.
Tiwari had previously indicated before ACJM Bamniyal’s court, referring to Kejriwal’s Twitter post on January 27 and Atishi’s news conference, that AAP leaders claimed the BJP had given Rs 20-30 crore to acquire certain AAP MLAs.
“When the ED approached AAP leaders regarding the excise policy case, they made baseless allegations to play the victim card.” “They harmed the BJP’s reputation,” Tiwari had previously told the court. Advocates Shoumendu Mukherji and Megha Sharma assisted him.