Delhi court grants bail to Kapil Mishra in defamation case

A Delhi court on Saturday granted bail to suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kapil Mishra.

Mishra was summoned by the court as an accused in a defamation case filed by Delhi's Urban Development Minister Satyendra Jain for levelling graft charges against him.

The court also asked him to furnish a personal bail bond of Rs. 10,000.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa, another accused in the same case, did not appear before the court.

The court has fixed the next date of hearing for March 31.

The court had earlier taken cognisance of two complaints filed by Jain, one against Mishra and another criminal complaint against Sirsa.

Jain had filed two separate criminal complaints against Sirsa and Mishra alleging that they had made defamatory statements against him in the media.

On May 7, 2017, Jain in his complaint said that Mishra, who earlier headed the water department in the Delhi government, had made a statement accusing him of giving a bribe to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on May 5, 2017.

He added that said these statements by Mishra had caused irreparable damage to his reputation.