Defamation Case Against Delhi CM: SC Defers Hearing On Plea Against Summons

The Supreme Court has postponed the hearing on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's plea challenging a Delhi High Court order in a criminal defamation case. The case involves Kejriwal's retweet of an allegedly defamatory video by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in 2018. The hearing was deferred by six weeks after Kejriwal's lawyer, Abhishek Singhvi, sought more time to pursue a settlement.

New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Monday deferred by six weeks hearing on a plea of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal against an order passed by the Delhi High Court upholding the summons issued to him in a criminal defamation case. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, requested a bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna to allow some more time to work out a settlement. The defamation case was filed for retweeting an allegedly defamatory video circulated by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in 2018.

Singhvi said there are, too, many things happening in his client’s life and “we express regret, but some more time may be given (for settlement)”. Advocate Raghav Awasthi, representing the complainant Vikas Sankrityayan, contended that time may be given to Kejriwal, but it should not be unlimited and some negotiations have to take place.

Singhvi submitted that although Kejriwal expresses regret for the tweet, it cannot be on the complainant's terms. The bench, also comprising justices Sanjay Kumar and R Mahadevan, scheduled the matter for hearing after six weeks to enable the parties to settle.

The apex court, in March this year, had asked Kejriwal whether he wanted to tender an apology to the complainant in the matter. Kejriwal had on February 26 told the court that he made a mistake by retweeting the allegedly defamatory video related to the BJP IT Cell. The complainant had contended before the court that Kejriwal may issue an apology on the microblogging platform 'X'.