Chandigarh, July 29 -- A local court on Tuesday granted personal appearance exemption to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal in an ongoing criminal defamation case, accepting his plea citing urgent political commitments and an upcoming Supreme Court hearing.

Additional chief judicial magistrate Sonali Singh allowed the exemption application for the Tuesday hearing in the case titled Rajinder Singh vs Sukhbir Singh Badal, which dates back to January 2017.

Sukhbir's counsel Rajesh Kumar Rai submitted to the court that as the president of the SAD, his client was required to chair a crucial meeting of party candidates convened ahead of the upcoming Punjab assembly elections.

The defense argued that Sukhbir's absence wou...