Hyd court issues non-bailable warrant against Digvijay Singh for remarks on Owaisi

The court was hearing a defamation case against Digvijay, filed by an AIMIM leader.

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A non-bailable warrant was issued against senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Friday by a Hyderabad court, for failing to appear before it with regard to a defamation case filed against him by a leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

The warrant was issued by the Eighth Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, who was hearing a petition filed by AIMIM leader S A Hussain Anwar. The leader had taken offense to comments made by Digvijay Singh in 2016, that AIMIM President and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi was contesting elections in other states for making money, and argued that it amounted to defamation.

After hearing the case, where Digvijay failed to appear or even file a response, the court issued the non-bailable warrant and posted the matter to January 3. An editor was also named in the plea moved in front of the court, as his newspaper carried the comments. However, the latter had filed a petition and informed the court that he could not be personally present on the date of the hearing.

This is not the first time that the senior leader has courted controversy.

In February last year, Digvijay Singh tweeted about madrassas, accusing them of spreading hatred. He was later booked based on a complaint filed against him in Hyderabad by Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) at the Dabeerpura police station.

On February 21, 2017, the Congress leader had tweeted, “Is there a difference between Madarsas and Saraswati Shishu Mandir Schools run by RSS? I don't think so. Both spread Hatred. (sic)."

Singh was booked under Section 295 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which deals with deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs. Soon after his comment he had faced criticism from several Muslim leaders and madrassa representatives.