A Delhi court on Monday issued summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with a criminal defamation case filed by BJPP leader Vijender Gupta.

The court has summoned the two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders on July 16, which is the next date of hearing in the case.

The court had recently heard the statements of the BJP leader and his witnesses regarding the case.

Gupta had filed a defamation case against Kejriwal and Sisodia after the two had alleged that Gupta was involved in the alleged "conspiracy" to murder the Delhi Chief Minister.

Gupta had said that the purported statement by Sisodia and Kejriwal had "maligned" his image. The BJP leader had also sent legal notices to the two AAP leaders prior to filing the defamation complaint, demanding an apology from them.   

According to news agency PTI, Gupta had said, "I have filed a defamation case in Patiala House court against them (Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia) as they did not reply to my legal notice." Gupta is the leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly.

Gupta has also filed a police complaint against Kejriwal and Sisodia, claiming that they had attempted to "falsely implicate" him in a supposed conspiracy to kill Kejriwal.

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, Kejriwal had said in an interview with a Punjabi channel that the BJP wanted to kill him using his own Personal Security Officer (PSO), just like how former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was murdered.

Gupta had challenged Kejriwal's claim and had alleged that the Delhi CM's allegations against the BJP were a result of his "frustration."

He had tweeted, "Before the slapgate on May 4 @ArvindKejriwal asked the liaison officer to lift the security cover around his vehicle. The chief minister's instruction is registered in the roznamcha (police diary). The AAP could not receive electoral gain out of it because I exposed this, so out of frustration Kejriwal is saying that his PSO reports to the BJP."

To this, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had responded claiming that Gupta was involved in a conspiracy to kill Arvind Kejriwal.

Quoting Gupta’s tweet, Sisodia had said, “BJP is conspiring to get the CM killed. This tweet by @Gupta_vijender has proved that the BJP is getting the daily security plan of the CM and it is hatching a conspiracy to kill the CM on this basis. Vijender Gupta is also a part of this conspiracy.”