On Friday, the Supreme Court scheduled September 30 to hear an appeal challenging a judicial order that mandates Delhi Chief Minister Atishi and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal to appear before a trial court on October 3 in connection with criminal defamation proceedings.
This follows the Delhi High Court's refusal on September 2 to quash the defamation proceedings against Kejriwal and Atishi. The case originates from allegations made by the two leaders, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of orchestrating the deletion of 3 million voters from Delhi's electoral rolls, primarily from certain communities. The high court also directed the AAP leaders to appear before the trial court on October 3.
A Supreme Court bench, consisting of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti, postponed the hearing to September 30. This came after counsel for the complainant, BJP Delhi Pradesh Vice President Rajiv Babbar, stated that he was not informed about the case listing, despite having filed a caveat, which ensures that no order is passed without hearing the party who filed it.
“We were treated unfairly by the Supreme Court registry. Despite our caveat, we were only informed last night, leaving us unprepared,” senior counsel Sonia Mathur, representing Babbar, told the bench.
In response, senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Kejriwal and Atishi, raised no objection to the adjournment, leading the bench to reschedule the hearing for September 30.
The Delhi High Court’s September 2 order had deemed the AAP leaders' statements defamatory, suggesting they were made to gain "undue political mileage." The defamation complaint also implicated AAP leaders Sushil Kumar Gupta and Manoj Kumar. The high court's single-judge bench observed that the accusations by the AAP leaders implied the BJP had engaged in corrupt practices by manipulating the voter rolls, an act that could sway public opinion and influence voters' choices. It further noted that these statements damaged the BJP's reputation and eroded public trust in the party.
Kejriwal and the other AAP leaders had challenged the trial court's decision, which upheld the summons issued by a magistrate court following Rajiv Babbar's complaint. Babbar had argued that the AAP leaders tarnished the BJP's reputation by falsely accusing it of directing the Election Commission to delete voters' names, particularly from the Bania, Purvanchali, and Muslim communities, during a December 2018 press conference.
The AAP leaders sought to quash the magistrate court’s March 15, 2019, order and the sessions court's January 28, 2020, ruling, calling the complaint "politically motivated" and asserting that Babbar was not an aggrieved party. However, the high court rejected these claims, emphasizing that the AAP leaders' good faith could only be determined during trial. The court underscored that, while citizens have a constitutional right to truthful information, political parties must not misuse the media to make defamatory allegations against their opponents for political gain.
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