'Made A Mistake': Delhi CM Kejriwal To SC In Defamation Case Over Reposting YouTuber's Video

Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal on Monday submitted in the Supreme Court that he had made a mistake by reposting an allegedly 'defamatory' post of YouTuber Dhruv Rathi, which targeted the BJP IT cell. A SC bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta opted not to issue a notice on Kejriwal's plea challenging a Delhi High Court ruling that upheld his summons in a criminal defamation case. The court, instead, asked the complainant whether they intended to close the matter, considering the chief minister's apology.

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi who was appearing for Kejriwal, said, "I can say this much that I made a mistake by retweeting."

"Thereafter, the complaint was withdrawn. When it was refiled, after nine months of the retweeting, it was suppressed that the original complaint was withdrawn," the senior lawyer said while asserting that the complaint filed was immediately followed by the recording of pre-summoning evidence.

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Replying to his contention, Justice Khanna said: "Look, you are on a technical point, that may not be good enough." The judge also asked Singhvi to show the picture of the reposted tweet.

Later, after going through the content of the post, the bench said: "When it comes to the question of retweeting, there may be two ways of looking at it. First, it may be an endorsement, which may have consequences. The other is say you spot something on the platform and share it for information. Will all these not be a matter of evidence in the case."

"Whether it was endorsement or sharing of information, it will be a matter of evidence in the trial," the bench further added.

On this Singhvi requested the issuance of notice, while saying that, "I have no problem in admitting that it was a mistake, if these are the consequences. I can say this much that I made a mistake by retweeting."

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The judges then asked lawyer Raghav Awasthi, who is representing the complainant Vikas Sankrityayan, if he was okay with wrapping up the case since the person who filed it admitted it was a mistake. Awasthi responded that he needed to check with his client and asked for a one-week adjournment.