Former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal suffered a major setback on Friday from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court dismissed his petition seeking quashing of the defamation complaint filed against him.
This case dates back to 2017, when Sukhbir Badal, in a statement, accused then-Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of meeting terrorists during his visit to Punjab. Badal alleged that Kejriwal had breakfast with members of the Akhand Kirtan Jatha, allegedly a political front of the terrorist organization Babbar Khalsa International. He had said that “if the Aam Aadmi Party comes to power in Punjab, anarchy will spread in the state.”
Following this statement, Akhand Kirtan Jatha member Rajinder Pal Singh filed a defamation complaint against Badal. Badal had argued in his petition to the High Court that he had not named the complainant in his statement, and that he was Punjab’s Home Minister at the time, and therefore had jurisdiction to comment on the state’s law and order situation. However, the High Court rejected his argument, stating that the case was prima facie triable, and therefore the complaint could not be dismissed at this stage. Following the court order, Sukhbir Badal will now face trial in a lower court.
