New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday set aside a magistrate’s order taking cognisance of defamation charges against BJP MLA Karnail Singh in a complaint filed by former AAP MLA Satyendra Jain, holding that the trial court failed to examine the applicability of statutory exceptions at the pre-summoning stage.Special Judge Jitendra Singh of the Rouse Avenue Courts allowed Singh’s revision plea, while clarifying that no observations were being made on the merits of the case. The matter was remanded to the trial court for fresh consideration in accordance with law.Terming the trial court’s view — that exceptions to defamation can be examined only during trial — as legally flawed, the court said the issue raised “goes to the root of the matter” and directly affects the legality of the order issuing process. It held that the trial court was required to undertake a limited examination of the alleged statements, the material on record and the exceptions pleaded to determine whether sufficient grounds existed to proceed.The case stems from the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections, in which Singh defeated Jain from Shakur Basti. Jain alleged that Singh made defamatory claims during campaigning, including statements about an Enforcement Directorate raid at his premises allegedly yielding 37 kg of gold and properties spread over 1,100 acres. Singh maintained that his statements were based on publicly available ED material and were accompanied by advisories to media outlets to verify the information.
