DELHI HIGH COURT REFUSED TO QUASH SUMMONS AGAINST ARWIND KEJRIWAL: RETWEETING DEFAMATORY CONTENTS AMOUNTS TO DEFAMATION

T he Delhi High Court in the case Arvind Kejriwal v. State and Anr. observed and has refused to quash the summons issued against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a criminal defamation case for retweeting an allegedly defamatory video which is posted by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in 2018.

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The bench headed by Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma in the case observed and has held that retweeting defamatory content will attract the offence of defamation under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

The court in the case observed and has upheld the order passed by the Magistrate and the order passed by the Sessions Court wherein it rejected the Kejriwal's revision plea against the same.

In the present case, Kejiriwal had filed the petition in the year 2019.

Therefore, the coordinate bench had stayed trial court proceedings initiated in the matter in December 2019.

The court held that online interaction on Twitter and sharing any posts with others by retweeting attracts the liability for the offence of defamation.

Adding to it, the court stated that if Kejriwal wants to justify his act of retweeting the video, it can be done at the stage of trial.