The Supreme Court on Monday halted proceedings in a criminal defamation case against Delhi Chief Minister Atishi and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, concerning their comments on the alleged removal of voters' names from electoral rolls in the national capital.

A Bench comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti issued a notice to the Delhi Police and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajiv Babbar, the complainant in the case. Meanwhile, the Court temporarily stayed the criminal proceedings against the two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders.

The Delhi High Court had recently dismissed a plea by AAP leaders seeking to quash the defamation case, prompting Kejriwal and Atishi to approach the Supreme Court. 

BJP leader Rajiv Babbar had filed the criminal defamation case against Kejriwal, Atishi, and AAP leaders Sushil Kumar Gupta and Manoj Kumar, alleging that during a press conference in December 2018, they accused the BJP of directing the Election Commission to delete approximately 30 lakh voters from Delhi’s voter rolls, specifically from the Bania, Poorvanchali, and Muslim communities. Babbar argued that these statements damaged his party’s reputation.

In March 2019, a Magistrate issued summons to Kejriwal and others. The AAP leaders challenged this in the Sessions Court, but their plea was rejected. They then approached the Delhi High Court, which upheld the criminal proceedings. 

The High Court ruled that while citizens in a democracy have the right to truthful and accurate information, political mud-slinging is unacceptable. It found the AAP's allegations defamatory, stating they were made to malign the BJP and gain undue political advantage.

This resulted in the current appeal by Kejriwal and Atishi before the Supreme Court.

At today's hearing, Senior Advocate Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, along with Advocates Vivek Jain, Mohh Irshad, Karan Sharma, Sadiq Noor, and Rajat Jain, represented Kejriwal and Atishi. Senior Advocate Sonia Mathur, assisted by Advocates Neeraj, Piyush Beriwar, and Shubhi Bhardwaj, appeared on behalf of Babbar on caveat.