The Supreme Court extends an interim stay on proceedings against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in a criminal defamation case against him for re-tweeting a video by Youtuber Dhruv Rathee on the BJP IT Cell.
The criminal defamation case against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for retweeting a video on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT Cell by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was given an interim stay by the Supreme Court on Monday, extending it till May 13. A bench made up of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta heard the case earlier in February and put a hold on the trial court’s proceedings until March 11.
Senior Attorney Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who was representing Kejriwal, informed the Supreme Court that he was prepared to apologize and acknowledge that the retweet was an error. The complainant was then given time by the court to determine whether or not he was in favor of the matter being closed.
Defamation Case
In the criminal defamation case against Arvind Kejriwal, the court today gave the complainant additional time to talk with the chief minister of Delhi about the details of an apology that would end the case. Kejriwal’s attorney, Singhvi, told the court that since Kejriwal has promised to apologize, the case ought to be closed.
But the court ruled that it wasn’t an acquisition. According to the Bennch, you are free to distribute your apologies without violating anyone’s rights or resentment. If not, the court may nevertheless consider the legal question of whether or not retweeting constitutes a crime. The Delhi High Court denied dismissing the criminal defamation case against Chief Minister Arvinder Kejriwal on February 5, stating that sharing posts on microblogging site X with others through retweeting carries the risk of being charged with defamation.
Defamation Case
A high court bench led by Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma upheld an order from the trial court calling Kejriwal to appear in the matter. The court observed that Kejriwal possesses a substantial fan base and that he is aware of the consequences of reposting the video. But the court said that Kejriwal might use the trial stage to defend his act of retweeting the video. Retweeting a social media post that contains defamatory content might result in charges of defamation under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), according to the court’s ruling. The summons sent out by the magistrate and the Sessions Court’s ruling dismissing Kejriwal’s appeal against it were both upheld by the court.
After Kejriwal retweeted a video by Rathee, Vikas Sankrityan, the creator of the social media website “I Support Narendra Modi,” launched a defamation lawsuit against him. Rathee claimed in his video that Vikas Sankrityan is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT cell and he had offered Rs 50 lakhs to Mahavir Prasad to take back allegations that the BJP IT cell spreads fake news. In 2018, Prasad appeared in an interview with Rathee, which was called “BJP IT Cell Insider Interview.”. Kejriwal shared this video on his X account.
images source: Google
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