New Delhi, Aug 28 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has refused to pass an ex-parte interim order directing the removal of allegedly defamatory statements and posts shared by BJP MLA Vijender Gupta on social media against Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot in relation to the alleged irregularities in procurement of 1,000 low floor buses by the Delhi Transport Corporation.

Justice Asha Menon issued summons in Gahlot's defamation suit against Gupta and said that no ex-parte injunction is called for at this stage.

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“..in the present case, prima facie, no personal allegations appear to have been specifically made against the plaintiff (Gahlot) except to the extent of saying that the entransaction appears to be a “scam”. At this stage, therefore, no ex-parte injunction is called for.,” said the judge in her order dated August 27.

The court granted 30 days to the BJP leader to respond to the suit as well as the application for an interim order.

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The court stated that a perusal of Gupta's tweets showed that he was “either raising queries in respect of the placing of the order for 1,000 Low Floor Buses and the costs involved in their maintenance or was commenting upon newspaper reports”.

“Some tweets are also in respect of some political action and protest to be organized against the plaintiff. While the plaintiff has claimed that the report of the Hon'ble Lt. Governor through media information was that no irregularity has been found, the tweet of the defendant No.1 (Gupta) dated 10th July, 2021 proclaims quite the contrary,” the court added.

The court also observed that a timeline of social media content and the proceedings in the Assembly reflected that “the topic was being discussed during the time period i.e., from March to July, 2021”.

Before the court, Gehlot's counsel had argued that that Gupta, his political rival, made unabated tweets doubting the integrity of the minister in relation to the purchase of the low floor buses, in spite of a clean-chit being given by a high-powered committee.

The Delhi government floated a tender for buses. After due process, it was awarded to Tata (but) all sorts of allegations were made. A high-powered committee gave a report that everything was in order, senior counsel Rajiv Nayar submitted.

“Despite the report, we have unabated tweets (calling) me to be a person of doubtful integrity,” he had said.

The court was informed that although the issue was discussed on the floor of the House and was answered by the Minister, Gupta continued to make mis-statements.

In his civil defamation suit, Gahlot has sought Rs five crore damages from Gupta for allegedly making scandalous statements relating to irregularities in the procurement of low floor buses.

Besides seeking a direction restraining Gupta from “posting/tweeting/publishing any defamatory or scandalous or factually incorrect Tweets/Posts” on social media platforms and “giving interviews, writing articles, blogs” etc in respect of purchase of low floor buses, the suit also seeks the removal of the allegedly defamatory content from social media.

On July 12, Gupta had written to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal demanding a CBI inquiry into the alleged scam involving procurement of 1,000 low floor buses by the Delhi Transport Corporation.

A three-member committee that probed the matter has recommended scrapping the tender of the AMC (annual maintenance contract) of buses finding various "lapses", he said.

There has been "irrefutable evidence of irregularities and violations in the AMC bid", he had stated, alleging "criminal conspiracy and connivance" was responsible for it.

The matter would be heard next by the court on September 20.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)