New Delhi, April 4 : The Delhi High Court on Thursday stayed the criminal defamation proceedings against BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, which were initiated by a local court on a complaint filed by Swamy’s fellow party worker and BJP Spokesperson for Delhi, Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga. Bagga had accused Swamy of posting a false tweet in September, 2021, alleging that before joining BJP, Bagga was jailed many times for petty crimes at Mandir Marg Police Station, New Delhi. In his statement before the Court, the BJP Spokesperson submitted that the allegations against him were false and were made to harm his reputation. He further said that even Sub-Inspector Sandeep Kumar, Police Station Mandir Marg, has corroborated the version of the complainant. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Dharmender Singh had earlier ruled that there was sufficient ground to initiate proceedings against Swamy and issued summon against him as an accused in the defamation case under the provisions of Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Counsel for Swamy submitted before the Court that the order of trial court was misconceived as an erroneous meaning was given to his tweet and there was material in the public domain to show that the substantial allegation of his tweet, that the complainant was jailed, existed. Hence, the complaint against Swamy was not maintainable before the court. The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh stayed the proceedings against Swamy and issued notice to Bagga for April 6 for further hearing. XC RJ