New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Thursday issued summons to the BJP and its parliamentary board members on a civil defamation case filed by veteran lawyer Ram Jethmalani over his expulsion from the party May 28.
Jethmalani demanded Rs.50 lakh in damages jointly from the board members, barring BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and the ailing Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He asked the court to declare the board’s decision “null and void”.
Joint Registrar of Delhi High Court Himani Malhotra said: “Summons of suit be issued to defendants (BJP and its parliamentary board members).”
The joint registrar asked the party and its members to file their response by Jan 30.
Appearing for Jethmalani, advocate Ashok Arora told the court that because he strongly supported Narendra Modi for the prime ministerial candidate for 2014 general elections, the board members expelled him as there were others in the party who were aspiring to become the PM candidate. (IANS)
