Summary:
New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, who has filed a civil defamation case against BJP"s Vijender Gupta for his statements on alleged irregularities in procurement of 1,000 low floor buses by the Delhi Transport Corporation, on Monday submitted before the Delhi High Court that while he was open to criticism with respect to his work, nobody has the right to “criticise his reputation”.
Justice Asha Menon was told by Gahlot"s counsel that the allegations of corruption levelled by BJP MLA against him are baseless and unsubstantiated.“This a general perception (that politicians are corrupt).
You (Gupta) are giving them (the public) fodder without any basis.
I am open to criticism but you can"t criticise my reputation.
You don"t have the right to say that I am corrupt without any basis,” argued senior counsel Manish Vashisht, appearing for the Delhi minister.The counsel contended that the BJP leader made “well-calculated”, scandalous and false tweets, without any material, to allege a multi-crore scam in the purchase of DTC buses.“He is giving a judgement.
If your story has some semblance of truth, have you filed any document to show that the lowest bid was not considered?”, he questioned.Gupta was also accused of “taking a summersault” and misinterpreting the report of the LG-appointed high-powered committee on the issue.“The committee report doesn"t say "open loot" but "no criminal misconduct attributable to public officers".