Citizens have right to truthful information, mud slinging by political parties not allowed: Delhi HC

New Delhi [India], September 2 : The Delhi High Court, on Monday, dismissed the plea by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders challenging the defamation proceedings against them, stating that citizens have the right to truthful and accurate information.
The court further stated that mudslinging by political parties is not permissible.
Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta emphasised that in a democracy, citizens are entitled to truthful and accurate information.
He underscored that mudslinging by political parties cannot be tolerated. The court found that the allegations made by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were defamatory and intended to malign the BJP to gain undue political advantage.
The court, while passing the order, also vacated its interim order that had stayed the summons issued by the trial court to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Atishi, and other AAP leaders.
The court has now ordered all parties to appear before the trial court.
Kejriwal and other AAP leaders had challenged the ongoing defamation case proceedings in the trial court, which were initiated by BJP Delhi leader Rajeev Babbar.
Babbar had accused Kejriwal and other AAP leaders of defaming the BJP by alleging that the party was responsible for removing a total of 30 lakh names from the Delhi electoral rolls, primarily from the 'Baniya', Muslim, and other communities.
In February 2020, the Delhi High Court had stayed the proceedings in the defamation case against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders.
AAP leaders had approached the Delhi High Court seeking the quashing of two court orders: the magisterial court's order dated 15 March 2019 and the sessions court's order dated 28 January 2020.
Rajeev Babbar, through the defamation case, sought proceedings against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other Aam Aadmi Party leaders, naming Sushil Kumar Gupta, Atishi Marlena, and Manoj Kumar. Babbar alleged that they harmed the BJP's reputation by accusing the party of being responsible for the deletion of voters' names from the electoral rolls in Delhi.
Earlier in July, AAP leader Atishi Marlena had a defamation case filed against her by BJP leader Praveen Shankar Kapoor over allegations of 'poaching' AAP legislators. Delhi's Rouse Avenue court had granted the AAP leader bail in the matter.
Rajeev Babbar claimed the statements of AAP leaders were intended to damage the BJP's reputation by targeting specific voter groups, including Bania, Poorvanchalis, and Muslims, causing irreparable harm to the complainant's reputation.
Arvind Kejriwal had moved the Delhi High Court in 2020, arguing that the defamation complaint was not maintainable as it was vague and did not disclose who the "person aggrieved" was.
The trial court, in February 2020, observed that the allegations made by Kejriwal and others were prima facie defamatory and referred to the BJP.
Babbar has argued that the voters' list is the prerogative of the Election Commission, not the BJP.