On Monday, the Delhi High Court dismissed a petition from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Minister Atishi, and other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders.

They had sought to have a criminal defamation case against them dismissed, which was filed in response to their comments about the alleged removal of voters' names from electoral rolls in the national capital.

Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta emphasized that while citizens in a democracy have the right to accurate and truthful information, political parties must refrain from engaging in mud-slinging. In this case, the Court found that the Aam Aadmi Party's allegations against the BJP were defamatory and intended to malign the BJP and gain unfair political advantage.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajiv Babbar has filed a criminal defamation case against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Minister Atishi, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Sushil Kumar Gupta and Manoj Kumar.

Babbar informed the Court that during a press conference in December 2018, AAP leaders had alleged that, under BJP's direction, the Election Commission had removed approximately 30 lakh names from the voter list in Delhi, targeting voters from the Bania, Poorvanchali, and Muslim communities. He claimed that these statements damaged the reputation of his party by attributing the deletions to the BJP.

In March 2019, a Magistrate issued summons to Kejriwal and the other AAP leaders in the defamation case. The AAP leaders challenged this order in the Sessions Court, but the Sessions Judge upheld the summons. Subsequently, Kejriwal, Atishi, and the others approached the High Court, which issued notices on the matter and stayed the proceedings on February 28, 2022.