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The Delhi High Court on Monday ruled against a petition to dismiss a defamation case filed by a BJP leader against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders. The case stems from remarks made by the AAP leaders in 2018 concerning alleged deletion of voters' names from electoral rolls in the national capital. Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta, presiding over the case, dismissed the plea filed by Kejriwal and the other AAP leaders challenging a previous ruling by a sessions court that upheld a magisterial court's decision to summon them as accused in the complaint.
The complaint was initially lodged by BJP leader Rajeev Babbar, who accused Kejriwal, Sushil Kumar Gupta, Manoj Kumar, and Atishi Marlena of damaging the BJP's reputation by falsely accusing the party of orchestrating the deletion of voter names. Babbar claimed that during a press conference in December 2018, the AAP leaders alleged that, at the behest of the BJP, the Election Commission of India had removed the names of 30 lakh voters, primarily belonging to the Bania, Poorvanchali, and Muslim communities.
In its reasoning, the Delhi High Court acknowledged the constitutional right of citizens to access truthful information for informed political decision-making. However, the court emphasized that political parties cannot exploit media platforms to disseminate defamatory claims against their rivals. The court determined that the AAP leaders' remarks, which implied the BJP's responsibility for voter name deletion, were prima facie defamatory and aimed at maligning the BJP. The court concluded that the remarks were made for political gain and upheld the trial court's order summoning Kejriwal and the other AAP leaders for the offense of defamation.
Previously, in 2020, a separate bench of the High Court had issued a stay order on proceedings in the case. However, Justice Mendiratta lifted this stay order and directed the parties involved to appear before the trial court on October 3rd. Kejriwal and the other AAP leaders had argued before the High Court that the trial court had erred in finding that an offense had been committed. They asserted that they had not made any statement directly targeting Babbar or his party, as alleged by him. Nevertheless, the High Court ultimately ruled against their plea, leaving the defamation case to proceed in the trial court.
Source: Delhi High Court Refuses To Quash BJP Leader's Defamation Case Against CM Arvind Kejriwal, Atishi