Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and AAP leader Yogendra Yadav on Tuesday appeared before a Delhi court in connection with a defamation case, after they faced a flak from the judge for not appearing.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal, Sisodia and Yadav were directed by a court here to appear before it later in the day in connection with a criminal defamation complaint, saying there was no ground for exemption from their appearance.

Metropolitan Magistrate Mayuri Singh took strong view of absence of Kejriwal, Sisodia and Yogendra Yadav, and said they "have no respect for the law".

The court fixed May 2, for pronouncing order on framing of charges against Kejriwal, Sisodia and Yadav in the case.

The case was put up before magistrate Singh as Metropolitan Magistrate Muneesh Garg, before whom the matter was going on, was on leave today.

During the hearing, the court had said the exemption application displayed no reason for the absence of the accused.

"There is nothing to reflect why accused (Kejriwal, Sisodia and Yadav) have not appeared. Accused have no respect for law. Considering no one has appeared for accused, I am keeping the matter pending at 2 PM. Call at 2 PM," the magistrate said.
The court noted that a clerk appeared on behalf of the accused and his advocates and moved the exemption plea.

The complainant, advocate Surender Kumar Sharma, opposed the plea saying the lawyers are on strike and not the litigants and it would not be in the interest of justice if any adjournment is given in the case as the case had earlier been adjourned three times due to absence of the accused.

Sharma had alleged that in 2013 he was approached by volunteers of AAP who had asked him to contest the Delhi Assembly elections on a party ticket, saying Kejriwal was pleased with his social services.

He filled up the application form to contest the polls after being told by Sisodia and Yadav that AAP's Political Affairs Committee of the party had decided to give him the ticket. However, it was later denied to him.

On October 14, 2013, the complainant claimed, articles in leading newspapers carried "defamatory, unlawful and derogatory words used by the accused persons" which have lowered his reputation in the Bar and the society.

The summons were issued on the complaint under sections 499, 500 (defamation) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC, with the court saying there was prima facie material to summon the accused.

The infighting in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is grappling with its lacklustre showing in the 2014 general elections, has now apparently reached the top leadership.

After AAP leader Yogendra Yadav resigned from the party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC) last Saturday, senior leader Manish Sisodia reportedly questioned his motives and strategies that did not help the party in the general elections.

Yadav, a native of Haryana, resigned from the party's top decision-making body following a tiff with state convener Naveen Jaihind, who resigned from the 18-month-old rookie party's national executive body on the same day.

In a letter sent to Yadav, Sisodia is said to have reprimanded him for taking his fight with Jaihind in public domain and calling party chief Arvind Kejriwal a "supremo".

"You have alleged that the party did not listen to the political affairs committee. But then the PAC also did not want you to contest from Gurgaon.

"In that scenario Arvind supported you. But when Arvind did not support you in you fight against Navin Jaihind, you call him supremo," said the letter dated Thursday.

HT has a copy of the letter, but could not confirm its veracity immediately as both Sisodia and Yadav could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

There is a big talk in the AAP circles that Sisodia's letter was in response to the one written by Yadav clarifying why he had to quit the PAC.

In the fresh letter, Yadav, who contested and lost the Gurgaon seat, was also criticised for his incorrect survey on Haryana.

While the AAP hoped to bag about 23% of the vote share in the state — which is also home to former Delhi CM kejriwal — it managed to get just 3% of the votes and failed to make an impression all the 10 constituencies.

The letter also blames Yadav for pushing Kejriwal to field over 400 candidates against his wish.

The AAP, despite its stellar assembly election debut in Delhi last year, managed to win just four seats — all in Punjab — in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. 

Following the debacle in the general elections, two of the AAP's prominent faces — Shazia Ilmi and GR Gopinath (who launched India's first low-cost carrier) — had recently quit the party in signs of disintegration.