Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor and Delhi State Chief Arvind Kejriwal on Monday apologised to Supreme Court for sharing an allegedly defamatory video against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT Cell by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee.
The top court bench comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta was hearing to the plea challenging the decision of Delhi High Court that upheld summons issued to him as an accused in the criminal defamation case.
Instead, the apex court asked the complainant that if he wants to close the matter considering the apology made by the Delhi State Chief.
Apart from this, the Supreme Court also asked the trial court not to take up the defamation case till 11 March.
Notably, the Delhi High Court on 5 February had denied to cancel the summons issued to AAP chief in the case.
“When a public figure with a political standing tweets or retweets defamatory posts, the repercussions escalate given the broader implications on society. The audience therefore becomes a citizenry at large whose opinion may be influenced by the information they consume, including the defamatory statement published on social media,” a bench of justice Swarana Kanta Sharma had said.
The defamation case against Kejriwal was filed by Vikas Sankrityayan, who runs a social media page 'I Support Narendra Modi'.
He had alleged that Kejriwal had retweeted a video titled “BJP IT Cell Part II” which was originally shared by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee. He also said that the video contained false and defamatory claims against him.
In the video, Rathee had claimed that Sankrityayan is part of BJP IT Cell and had offered INR 5 million ($60,331) to a person named Mahavir Prasad asking him to take back allegations that BJP IT Cell spreads fake news.