NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party MLA Jarnail Singh on Thursday filed a defamation case against Delhi PWD minister Parvesh Verma following a row that erupted after the minister slapped a civilian during a road inspection in west Delhi’s Tilak Nagar.The AAP MLA sought an apology from Verma for slapping the youth, who was recording him on a phone camera at the time.“The minister lost his cool after seeing me openly challenging his claims of the road work, and he kicked and slapped a youth in Tilak Nagar. I have filed a defamation case against minister Verma. He has seven days to respond to why he slapped a youth and apologise,” Singh said at a press conference.Since the episode last week, an FIR has been registered against AAP’s Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj, Jarnail Singh and several party workers for allegedly assaulting a head constable and obstructing him from discharging his duties.Police have also filed a non-cognisable report (NCR) against Verma for slapping 22-year-old Sahib Singh during a road inspection last week.“We would also like to see the third-party audit report of that road, because even after a week the road is still breaking at points. Can the youth not ask questions? Will the BJP respond by slapping people, as Verma did?” Singh added.Jarnail Singh alleged that Verma has been continuously lying about the road project and pressured PWD officials and a private contractor to file a complaint against him.(With inputs from PTI)
