HC asks Mansa court to consider Bhagwant Mann's exemption request in defamation case

Time of India

4 days ago

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court has asked the trial court in Mansa, where a defamation case is pending against Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, to consider his request for exemption (if filed) based on its merits, without being bound by the earlier order of Aug 2, 2025, which said that his bail would be cancelled if he did not appear.
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Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya passed these orders while hearing an application filed by the Punjab CM. A counsel representing CM Mann submitted that the summoning order dated Dec 14, 2020, is not sustainable. There is no material before the magistrate to even prima facie establish that the alleged imputation lowered the complainant's estimation in the eyes of others, as none except the complainant was examined as a witness.
The counsel further contended that the challenge to the impugned order is already pending before the court in another petition.
Hearing the plea, the HC has asked the state govt to file a reply on the matter by August 18. "In the meanwhile, the trial court is directed to consider the petitioner's application, if any, moved before it for exemption on merits dehors the stipulation in the order dated August 2, 2025, that on his non-appearance the bail will be cancelled," the HC observed further in its order.
The court of Mansa chief judicial magistrate has summoned Bhagwant Mann in a defamation case filed against him by former MLA Nazar Singh Manshahia. Manshahia, who left the AAP for Congress on April 25, 2019, stated that two days after his joining the Congress, then Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann held a press conference in Sangrur and accused him of switching parties in lure of Rs 10 crore.