On Monday, the Supreme Court of India dismissed a petition by Arvind Kejriwal, the former Chief Minister of Delhi and leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who challenged the Gujarat High Court’s decision to not quash summons against him in a defamation case. The case pertains to Kejriwal’s controversial comments regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s educational qualifications.
The bench, consisting of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S V N Bhatti, referred to a previous decision on April 8, involving AAP leader Sanjay Singh in the same defamation case, which the Court had also dismissed. Justice Roy emphasized the importance of consistency in the judiciary’s approach to similar cases.
The origin of the legal battle traces back to allegations made by Kejriwal questioning the authenticity of the Prime Minister’s degree, which prompted Gujarat University to file a defamation suit. The summons were initially issued by a trial court, and despite appeals to the sessions court and subsequently the Gujarat High Court, both politicians’ pleas for quashing the summons were rejected.
