Made a mistake by re-posting ‘defamatory’ clip: Arvind Kejriwal to Supreme Court

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 26

The Supreme Court on Monday restrained a trial court from going ahead with a defamation case against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for re-tweeting a YouTube video against the BJP’s IT cell after the latter “admitted his mistake”.

Kejriwal said he made a mistake by re-tweeting an alleged defamatory video circulated by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee.

Skips ED summons for seventh time

Kejriwal on Monday skipped the seventh ED summons to him in connection with the money laundering probe linked to the Delhi excise policy case, saying he would appear before the agency if a court ordered him to do so.

Without issuing notice on Kejriwal’s petition challenging a Delhi High Court order upholding the summons issued to him as an accused in the criminal defamation case, a Bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna sought to know from the complainant if he wanted to close the matter in view of the CM’s apology.

The Bench directed the trial court not to take up the defamation case against Kejriwal till March 11. The direction came after senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi admitted on behalf of the Delhi CM that it was a mistake. “I can say this much that I made a mistake by re-tweeting,” Singhvi told the Bench on Kejriwal’s behalf.

The high court had on February 5 said that reposting alleged libelous content would attract the defamation law. A sense of responsibility has to be attached while re-tweeting content about which one does not have knowledge and added that re-tweeting of defamatory content must invite penal, civil as well as tort action if the person re-tweeting it does not attach a disclaimer, it had said.

Kejriwal had contended before the high court that the trial court failed to appreciate that his tweet was not intended or likely to harm the complainant, Vikas Sankrityayan, and that the trial court erred in not providing any reasons for issuing the summons and the orders were 'ex-facie' devoid of judicial application of mind.

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