NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a plea by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking to quash summons against him in a criminal defamation case, in which the latter retweeted an alleged defamatory video posted by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in 2018.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma held that retweeting a content, which is allegedly defamatory, on the Twitter account and projecting it to be as if his own views, will prima facie attract the liability under Section 499 of IPC, for the issuance of summons.
Noting the "political and social standing" of the petitioner, the court said, "Needless to say, the large social media following of a Chief Minister of a State undoubtedly implies a wider reach, making any retweet, a form of public endorsement or acknowledgment."
The high court asserted that whether the alleged defamatory content will "help the petitioner as a political person or not, is not in this Court’s domain to go into, at this stage."
"At times, it is difficult to erase the reputational injury from public memory, as the tweets may be deleted but perceptions are difficult to be deleted from the minds of the community," the order highlighted.
The high court said there is no "infirmity" in the summoning order passed by Magistrate and the Sessions Court while turning down the challenge of the Aam Aadmi Party leader.
Refusing to interfere in the lower court summons, the high court said, Kejriwal will have opportunity to raise contentions before the learned Trial Court during the course of trial which will be decided as per law, including the issue as to whether for the purpose of trial case under Section 499 of IPC is made out or not.
"Thus, regardless of whether posting such content or filing a defamation case serves the interests of the petitioner or the respondent in gaining political mileage, this Court must adjudicate a criminal matter solely based on the legal provisions outlined in the relevant sections of criminal law and in accordance with established judicial precedents. The decision should be made without any consideration of personal agendas or the potential impact or implications on the political landscape at the threshold of journey of a case i.e. summoning on the basis of adequate material on record," the order read.
As per the case filed by Vikas Sanskrityayan, founder of social media page, “I support Narendra Modi.”against the Delhi CM, contended that the YouTube video titled “BJP IT Cell Part II” was circulated by Rathee and false and defamatory allegations were made in it.
Kejriwal's purported retweet of the video "without checking for its authenticity" led him into the complaint.