Court to pass order on May 31 on complaint against Arvind Kejriwal

The case relates to the Delhi chief minister using allegedly 'defamatory and seditious' words against Prime Minister Narendra Modi

A Delhi court today reserved for May 31 its order on the issue of cognisance on a criminal complaint filed against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for using allegedly "defamatory and seditious" words against Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raid at the office of his principal secretary.

Metropolitan Magistrate Abhilash Malhotra fixed the matter for order after hearing arguments on behalf of the complainant, an advocate.

"Arguments heard. Put up for orders on May 31," the court said.

Complainant-advocate Pradeep Dwivedi sought Kejriwal's prosecution under sections 124A (sedition) and 500 (defamation) of the IPC, alleging that there was "seditious intention" behind the remarks which spread "hatred and contempt" against the prime minister.

He argued that the remarks like "coward" and "psychopath", uttered by the Aam Aadmi Party leader against Modi, were "defamatory and seditious" and such statements could spread "disharmony" and "disaffection" in the country.

Regarding the locus of the complainant in filing the plea, the counsel had earlier said that being a citizen of India, he was aggrieved by the comments of Kejriwal and was "competent to file a complaint in a case where statements were made against the prime minister of the country".

The complainant alleged that when the CBI had raided the chief minister's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar's Delhi Secretariat office on December 15 last year, Kejriwal had made offensive remarks on his Twitter account against Modi.

"Being fully aware of the autonomy and independence of CBI, the accused (Kejriwal), owing to his personal interest and political enmity, made some offending remarks on his Twitter account towards the prime minister of this country just because of the said raid by CBI," the complaint said.

"On December 15, 2015, the accused posted the remarks on his Twitter account which reads as 'Modi is a coward and a psychopath'. The remarks were made against the democratically elected PM of the largest democracy of the world," it said.

The complainant alleged that Kejriwal had "intentionally" used defamatory words with a view to spreading a sense of "hatred and contempt" towards the prime minister.