Chandigarh: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s wife Dr. Gurpreet Kaur, the plaintiff in a defamation suit against Justice Ranjit Singh, has agreed to his deletion from the list of defendants after the court questioned the maintainability of the proceedings against him.In her statement recorded through counsel Sukhbir Singh, Gurpreet Kaur maintained that Justice Singh had categorically stated that the publication by defendant no.1 (DD News anchor Bhawna Nayyar) was incomplete and did not represent his actual statement. She also stated that he had clarified that he never intended to defame her.She submitted that she “became aware of the complete statement” only after filing the suit and that Justice Singh had not approached any authority seeking removal of the allegedly incomplete publication before the institution of the proceedings.
US Midterm Election Results 2026
She said she had no objection to removing the former judge from the array of defendants, subject to his having no objection to the removal of the allegedly incomplete statement/publication attributed to Nayyar from all social media platforms.Counsel for Justice Singh, Charanjit Singh Bakhshi, alleged that Gurpreet Kaur had concealed material facts while approaching the court and that she had not undertaken a reasonable inquiry into the facts before filing the suit. Justice Singh’s complete press conference was available in the public domain, including social media, he said, questioning how she could then claim ignorance of his complete statement.The counsel also questioned the plaintiff’s change of stand, pointing out that she had earlier strongly opposed an application seeking vacation of the interim stay filed on behalf of Justice Singh. He argued that she changed her position only after the court raised questions about the maintainability of the suit against Justice Ranjit Singh.Bakhshi informed the court that an application seeking compensation had been moved against Gurpreet Kaur, and contended that her subsequent willingness to drop Justice Singh’s name raised questions about the circumstances in which the proceedings were initiated and pursued.The matter has been posted for Nov 23, 2026, for further proceedings.
