Arvind Kejriwal summoned in criminal defamation case filed by Arun Jaitley

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his five party colleagues, who were named as accused in the criminal defamation case filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, have been summoned for a court hearing on April 7. The move comes after the court observed that the remarks made by the six were derogatory in nature.

The court’s order came as an embarrassment for the Aam Aadmi Party which has been involved in a power tussle with the BJP-led central government. Apart from Kejriwal, the five other leaders summoned by the court are Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh, Kumar Vishwas, Raghav Chadha and Deepak Bajpai.

On December 21, 2015, Jaitley, in his criminal complaint through senior advocate Sidharth Luthra and advocate Manoj D Taneja, had alleged that Kejriwal and others had made the defamatory statement that he and his family made pecuniary gains by associating with M/s 21st Century Media Pvt Ltd, a sports management firm, and siphoned off money from Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA). The charges were levelled against Jaitley after the CBI conducted raids at Delhi Secretariat. Kejriwal had alleged that the raids were conducted to get access to the Delhi government’s inquiry report into the alleged irregularities in DDCA during Jaitley’s tenure as president.

The Union minister cited various tweets, online posts and statements made by the six AAP leaders in a joint press conference that claimed to have tarnished his image not only within his family but also in the eyes of millions across the globe.

In his 30-page order, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Dass said that based on pre-summoning evidence that was placed on record, it was evident that the accused had made imputations against Jaitley and published the same on electronic and social media.

Referring to the statements and social media posts of the accused, the court observed that they were not only insulting, but jeeringly taunting and provocative in nature. “The identity in the content, proximity in terms of timing of their statements suggest a commonality of intent, shared purpose and active participation. The statements in the light of the pre-summoning evidence led (by Jaitley) manifest that the underlying common intent was to paint the complainant as a person of dubious integrity, involved in embezzlement of funds through unscrupulous deals. The statements have exposed the complainant to ridicule, hatred and contempt amongst the right-thinking members of the society and lowered his reputation,” said the order.

The court was of the view that defamatory allegations as levelled on social media were intended to be read or shared and tweets and re-tweets point to synchronised pattern.

The court said even though Ashutosh and Kumar Vishwas are residents of Noida and Ghaziabad and beyond its territorial jurisdiction but further inquiry under Section 202 of CrPC, relating to postponement of process, was not warranted in this matter as evidence were primarily of a documentary nature.

“No fruitful purpose would be served by protracting the inquiry any further and the evidence already recorded shall suffice also for purposes of Section 202 of CrPC. Therefore, there is no reason to postpone the issue of process and embark on a further inquiry,” it said.

The complaint was filed for the alleged offences under Sections 499 (defamation), 500 (punishment for defamation), 501 (printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory), 502 (sale of printed or engraved substance containing defamatory matter), 34 (common intention) and 35 (when such an act is criminal by reason of its being done with a criminal knowledge or intention) of the IPC. The charges prescribe a maximum punishment of two years imprisonment.