Delhi HC orders Sunita to remove Arvind Kejriwal's court video
The Delhi High Court has directed Sunita Kejriwal, the wife of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, to delete a video from her social media account. This video features her husband addressing the court on May 28 after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged liquor policy scam. The court has also instructed social media companies to remove the video. The ruling came while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Delhi-based advocate Vaibhav Singh.
Why does this story matter?
Singh's plea alleges that Kejriwal and others illegally recorded the trial court's proceedings. He argued that recordings of court proceedings is prohibited under the "High Court of Delhi Rules for Video Conferencing for Courts 2021" and that making these films public was an attempt to tarnish the image of the courts and judges. His plea further claims that such videos were part of the conspiracy hatched by Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Plea seeks formation of an SIT
The plea also sought the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate and file a FIR against individuals who conspired to record and share audio and video of court sessions. "Several members of the AAP including members of various other opposition parties have intentionally and deliberately and with willful intention to malign and manipulate the court proceedings done the audio and video recording of the court proceedings and circulated on social media platforms," the plea states.
Alleged misuse of court proceedings by political parties
Sunita is among five individuals who have been ordered by the court to take down these posts. The others are Akshay Malhotra, X user Nagrik-India Jeetega, Promila Gupta, Vineeta Jain, and Dr. Arunesh Kumar Yadav. A Division Bench of Justices Neena Bansal Krishna and Amit Sharma further directed social media companies like X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to take down similar content. The Delhi High Court has now listed this matter for further hearing on July 9.
