Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi’s Chief Minister, admitted before the Supreme Court on Monday that retweeting a video circulated by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in 2018, allegedly defamatory, was a “mistake”. Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta directed the trial court to halt proceedings in the defamation case against him temporarily. Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has challenged the Delhi High Court’s February 5 order declining to dismiss the summons issued against him, affirming that reposting libelous content would violate defamation laws. The complaint was lodged over Kejriwal’s retweet of a video from a YouTuber on the social media platform ‘X’. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, acknowledged the mistake, requesting an adjournment before the trial court due to swift prosecution. The bench agreed, relieving Kejriwal from appearing in court for the time being. They instructed the complainant to consider closing the case based on Kejriwal’s admission. The matter was postponed until March 11, with the trial court instructed not to proceed in the interim. The defamation complaint stemmed from Kejriwal’s retweet of a video by a YouTuber in 2018, accusing the founder of a Twitter page called ‘I Support Narendra Modi’ of acting like ‘BJP IT CELL Part-II’.
