Defamation Case: Arvind Kejriwal Files Revision in Session Court of Gujarat

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and AAP MP Sanjay Singh have filed revision applications in the sessions court to challenge the summons issued against them by a lower court. The lower court had summoned them for a personal appearance on July 26 in a defamation case filed against them by Gujarat University (GU).

The sessions court judge, AJ Kanani, has issued a notice to the Gujarat Government and GU regarding the revision pleas and scheduled the hearing for August 5.

The defamation case was filed by GU Registrar Piyush Patel after Kejriwal and Singh made comments following the Gujarat High Court’s decision to set aside the Chief Information Commissioner’s order on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s educational degree.

Both Kejriwal and Singh filed separate revision petitions under section 397 of CrPC, which empowers sessions courts to examine the correctness, legality, or propriety of any finding, sentence, or order from a lower court.

The criminal defamation case was admitted by a magistrate’s court in April, based on a complaint lodged by GU, and summonses were issued to Kejriwal and Singh to record their statements. However, the AAP leaders argued that the magistrate’s court made an “error of law” in passing the summoning order.

Their revision pleas stated that according to section 199 of the CrPC, a complaint of defamation can only be instituted by “a person aggrieved.” However, the complaint did not even allege that Piyush Patel, the GU Registrar, had been defamed.

In addition, the authority letter given to Patel, allowing him to be the complainant, did not reference the complaint or cause of action, and it even lacked the names of the AAP leaders.

The AAP leaders asserted that the summoning order was “self-contradictory” because while the magistrate mentioned that the statements targeted political opponents, the findings in the order suggested that GU was the target of satirical remarks.

In their revision pleas, Kejriwal and Singh requested the sessions court judge to accept their pleas, quash the summoning order, and review the proceedings of the magistrate’s court. They also sought the court’s intervention to quash the main defamation complaint filed by GU Registrar Piyush Patel, stating that their comments were defamatory and intended to hurt the university’s reputation by implying that it issued fake and bogus degrees.