Delhi HC Denies Quashing Defamation Case Against Kejriwal

The Delhi High Court on Monday decided not to dismiss the defamation case against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other Aam Aadmi Party leaders.

Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta rejected their plea to quash the defamation proceedings related to claims about the alleged removal of 30 lakh voters from electoral rolls in Delhi.

The high court overturned its previous stay on the trial court proceedings, directing the parties to appear before the trial court on October 3.

Kejriwal, former AAP Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Gupta, and party leaders Manoj Kumar and Atishi had challenged a sessions court ruling that upheld a magisterial court’s decision to summon them as defendants in the case brought by BJP leader Rajeev Babbar.

The AAP leaders had contested the magisterial court’s March 15, 2019, and the sessions court’s January 28, 2020 orders, arguing that no defamation occurred.

Babbar’s complaint alleges that during a December 2018 press conference, the AAP leaders claimed the BJP directed the deletion of voters from specific communities, which harmed the BJP’s reputation.

The AAP leaders argued that the trial court had misunderstood their statements and that they did not defame Babbar or his party.

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