Kejriwal granted bail in defamation case over voters' list tampering remark

A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a defamation case filed by BJP leader Rajeev Babbar over the AAP leader's alleged remark that BJP tampered with the voters' list.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Samar Vishal granted bail to Kejriwal on a personal bail bond of Rs 10,000 after the chief minister appeared before the court.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Babbar alleging Kejriwal made defamatory remarks on Twitter that names around 30 lakh voters belonging to Baniya, Muslims and other communities were deleted from the voters' list in the national capital at the behest of BJP.

Other accused in the case include AAP MP Sushil Gupta, MLA Manoj Kumar and party leader Atishi Marlena, who have already been granted bail.

The court had observed that the allegations made by Kejriwal and others were prima facie defamatory and referred to complainant BJP, following which, summons were issued for the commission of the offence of defamation under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Babbar has contended that the voters' list is the prerogative of the Election Commission and not BJP.