New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS): BJP leader Nitin Gadkari filed a defamation case against Arvind Kejriwal, who has resigned as Delhi chief minister, in a court here Tuesday, contending that Kejriwal has tarnished his image by calling him corrupt.

The complaint was filed before Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati Manocha.

The court recorded the statement of Gadkari and two other witnesses and posted the matter for Feb 22 for further hearing.

The complaint said that on Jan 31, "Kejriwal has deliberately released the list of India's most corrupt people mentioning his (Gadkari's) name in a grossly irresponsible manner".

Kejriwal "has deliberately tried to malign (Gadkari's) image though he is not involved in any wrongful or corrupt act," the complaint stated, requesting the court to act against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and prosecute him for defaming the former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president.

Gadkari told the court that the false, baseless, scandalous, and defamatory statements and news items by Kejriwal against him have been widely published, circulated and read by public at large and have lowered his dignity in the eyes of the public.

He added that such defamatory statements were made with ulterior motive and wrongful intent to malign and tarnish his image.

Being then a chief minister, Kejriwal failed to maintain the dignity of the post by making a false statement against a responsible and highly respected public figure, the petition said, filed by counsel Ajay Digpaul.

He added that the act was done with intention to harm the reputation of Gadkari, which will help Kejriwal to advance his political agenda and gain media attention.

The complainant also mentioned the name of Ashutosh, national spokesperson of AAP, for reiterating Kejriwal's statement without verifying the correctness of allegations.

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