Senior Advocate M Aruna Shyam for Bharti claimed that Bharti acted within his fundamental rights under the Constitution and the conduct of the complainant amounted to infringement of the freedom of expression. Therefore, she sought quashing of the complaint.
The Court stated that the core of the issue was the truthfulness of the newspaper reports and determined that further investigation could not be permitted unless the truthfulness of the claims was verified.
“Therefore, it is for the learned SPP to steer clear the truthfulness or otherwise of the afore-quoted columns of the ex Congressman. Till such steering clear would happen, no further investigaton can be permitted against the petitioner,” the Court said.
The Court will heart the matter further on July 19.
Source: Barandbench
