SC extends order of stay on defamation case proceedings against Kejriwal, Atishi

New Delhi [India], May 9 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Friday extended its interim order staying the proceedings of the criminal defamation case against former Delhi Chief Ministers Atishi and Arvind Kejriwal over their remarks on the alleged deletion of voter names from the electoral roll in the national capital in 2018.
As Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajeev Babbar, who filed a complaint, had saught four more weeks to file a reply, a bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal adjourned the matter.
Earlier, the apex court had issued notice to Delhi Police and the complainant and sought their responses in the matter.
In the meanwhile, proceedings before the trial court will remain stayed in the defamation case, the apex court had said.
Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi approached the apex court challenging the Delhi High Court's refusal to quash a criminal defamation case by BJP leader Rajiv Babbar filed over their remarks on the alleged deletion of voter names from the electoral roll in the national capital in 2018.
Atishi and Kejriwal have challenged the September 2 order of the Delhi High Court.
They had made remarks on the alleged deletion of the names of 30 lakh voters belonging to some communities from the electoral rolls in 2018.
The High Court had said the imputations were prima facie "defamatory" with an intention of vilifying the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and gaining undue political mileage.
The High Court had dismissed the plea by Atishi, Kejriwal and others challenging the defamation proceedings pending before the trial court. The defamation complaint also named two other AAP leaders, Sushil Kumar Gupta and Manoj Kumar.
It had also directed the AAP leaders to attend the trial court hearing scheduled for October 3.
Kejriwal and the other AAP leaders had challenged in the High Court the trial court's decision, which upheld the summons issued by the magistrate court following Babbar's complaint.
The AAP leaders, before the High Court, sought to quash the magistrate court's March 15, 2019, order and the Sessions court's January 28, 2020, order, labelling the complaint as "politically motivated" saying Babbar was not an aggrieved party. (ANI)