Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The principal bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur on Monday dismissed petition of Congress leader Digvijaya Singh. Digvijaya had asked court to quash defamation case filed against him by BJP worker Rajesh Kumar through his counsel Awadhesh Singh Bhadoria.
Singh through his counsel told court that his statement was not published properly and that he did not defame BJP. The investigation should have been done by the police first but JMFC court in Gwalior did not order police to investigate the matter and therefore the case should be dismissed.
Advocate Awadhesh Singh Bhadoria argued that under CrPc, Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) has the right to investigate case either himself or get it investigated through police or any other agency. No case of violence has been registered against Singh in which police investigation is necessary.
The JMFC investigated the matter and only after investigation, a case was registered against him. Accepting arguments, High Court rejected the petition of Singh considering the action of JMFC court as correct.
In August 2019, Singh had accused BJP having links with Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI. Considering the above statement of Singh as defamatory, BJP leader and advocate Bhadoria filed a complaint against him at JMFC court in Gwalior under Sections 499, 500 of IPC.
