New Delhi, Jan 27 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard a plea filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi Marlena seeking relief in a criminal defamation case arising from their remarks alleging deletion of voters’ names from electoral rolls in the national capital.
A Bench comprising Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice N.K. Singh took up the matter for hearing. Appearing for the AAP leaders, senior advocate Meenakshi Arora submitted that by an earlier order dated August 18, the Court had observed that the matter be listed on a non-miscellaneous day.
She further contended that the present case is similar to the criminal defamation proceedings pending against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in relation to his “scorpion” remark case, which is scheduled to be heard in February. On that basis, Arora sought tagging of the two matters.
Opposing the plea, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing for the union of India, submitted that the present case involved defamation of a political party and that the complaint had been filed by a person duly authorised by the party.
He argued that the issue is well settled by a series of judicial precedents and does not warrant interference at this stage. Another counsel submitted that the issues involved in the Shashi Tharoor case are entirely distinct and that there was no justification for tagging the two matters. Reiterating her submission, Arora pointed out that the complainant in both cases is the same and therefore common questions of law arise.
The Bench, however, was not inclined to tag the matters. The Court observed that there was no necessity to club the present case with the Shashi Tharoor matter and declined the request.
Granting time to the parties, the Bench permitted filing of rejoinders and adjourned the matter for further hearing. The criminal defamation case stems from public statements made by the AAP leaders alleging large-scale deletion of voters’ names from the electoral rolls in Delhi, which the complainant has claimed to be defamatory. The Supreme Court is presently examining the challenge to the continuation of the criminal proceedings.
