Yamuna remark: Kejriwal fails to appear before court

Former Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal did not appear in the Sonepat court on Monday in a criminal complaint filed against his remarks accusing the BJP government in Haryana of “poisoning” the Yamuna.

Acting upon the petition filed by the government through the State Disaster Management Authority on January 29, Chief Judicial Magistrate Neha Goyal had asked him to appear in person before the court on February 17.

However, AAP’s legal cell president advocate, along with other advocates, appeared in the court on his behalf. They demanded the documents along with the notice, which has been provided to them in a pen drive.

The court sought a reply and fixed March 20 for next hearing.

The complaint was filed by Ashish Kaushik, Executive Engineer of the Rai Water Works in Sonepat on January 29. He alleged that Kejriwal had spread misinformation and caused panic among residents of Delhi and Haryana with his remark.

The petitioner demanded that Kejriwal be summoned, prosecuted and punished under the provisions of Section 54 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, along with Sections 353 (public mischief) and 356 (defamation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

The complainant said on January 28, a crowd comprising residents from villages near the Yamuna gathered on the premises of the Irrigation Department’s office in Sonepat and sought an explanation why the government had allegedly poisoned the river.