Chandigarh, July 29 -- A local court on Tuesday granted personal appearance exemption to Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal in 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 Tuesday hearing in case titled Rajinder Singh vs Sukhbir Singh Badal. Sukhbir's counsel Rajesh Kumar Rai submitted to the court that as president of the SAD, his client was required to chair a crucial meeting of party candidates convened ahead of upcoming Punjab polls. Defense argued that Sukhbir's absence would severely disrupt the meeting and cause immense inconvenience to party candidates who had travelled long distances to attend the gathering.htc...