Re-tweeting row: Kejriwal asked to appear before court on Dec 13 in defamation case

A Delhi court on Saturday directed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to appear before it on December 13 in connection with a criminal defamation complaint filed against him for retweeting a defamatory video against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Vishal Pahuja will also deliver an order on framing of charges against Kejriwal on the same date. Kejriwal has also been asked to furnish a bail bond.

"It is pertinent to note that the accused has not taken bail till date. Accordingly, the matter is adjourned for furnishing bail bonds as well as framing of formal notice under Section 251 CrPC on December 13," the court said.

The court was hearing a complaint filed by Vikas Sankrityayan, the founder of a social media page called 'I Support Narendra Modi', against Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal for allegedly re-tweeting a defamatory video posted by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in May 2018.

A retweet is a "re-posting" of a tweet by another user. Sankrityayan claimed that a "number of false and defamatory allegations were made" in the video titled 'BJP IT Cell Part II', which Kejriwal had allegedly re-tweeted.

"The complainant alleged that the allegations made against him in the video are false, malicious and defamatory. It has lowered the reputation of the complainant in the eyes of right-thinking members of the society. So far no proof has been tendered on the allegations," Sankrityayan's complaint had read.

He said that Kejriwal re-tweeted the video from his Twitter account without checking the authenticity of the video.

Kejriwal's legal team, however, argued that Rathee, who actually posted the video, is not an accused but the Chief Minister has been made an accused in the complaint.

The session court had earlier dismissed an application filed by Kejriwal challenging summons issued to him by a magistrate court.