AAP leader writes to Home Min over threats in courtroom

An AAP leader, who was put on trial by a Delhi court in a criminal defamation case filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the DDCA controversy, has written to Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking action for alleged threats made to him and others inside the courtroom.

Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Raghav Chadha in his letter to the Home Minister, a copy of which was also sent to Delhi Police commissioner, said all the accused in the case, including him, are "alarmed and in a state of shock" after the incident.

Narrating the incident in his letter, Chadha said when the hearing was going on, a person dressed as an advocate issued a threat to life to AAP leaders including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and their lawyers.

He claimed the man also threatened them in "a loud voice with gestures" that he will "fix them and deal with them outside the court".

He said at the request of the lawyers of the accused, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) directed the man to identify himself and he disclosed his name as Vivek Sharma.

Chadha added that their lawyers also made a formal complaint in this respect to the CMM, who took it on record.

"The whole incident reveals a very serious threat to life of the accused from lawyers who claim to represent a powerful Union Minister and if this kind of incident can take place within the precincts of a temple of justice, it reflects on the poor condition of law and order in the city which is the responsibility of the Delhi Police that comes under the administrative control of the Union Home Ministry," he said in his letter.

Alleging that Sharma was not "acting unilaterally but with the tacit blessings of his political masters", Chadha said that his actions amount to criminal intimidation which is "a well-orchestrated stratagem to harass, coerce and pressurise the accused and prevent them from defending themselves".

"If acts of this nature go unaddressed and people are permitted to make a mockery of the legal process, it portends a very ominous state of affairs for the common residents of the National Capital," he said requesting the home minister to ensure that appropriate and necessary action is taken in this regard.