An advocate has filed a criminal complaint against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for using defamatory words against Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a raid was conducted at the office of his principal secretary by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Advocate Pradeep Kumar Dwivedi, who filed the complaint, has sought the prosecution of the Delhi chief minister under Sections 124A (sedition) and 500 (defamation) of the IPC. The complaint was filed at the court of metropolitan magistrate Yogesh Singh in Tis Hazari courts. January 4 has been fixed as the next date of hearing. Mr Dwivedi, in his complaint, alleged that when the CBI conducted a raid at the principal secretary Rajendra Kumar’s Delhi Secretariat office on December 15, Mr Kejriwal made offensive remarks on his Twitter account against Mr Modi. Mr Dwivedi said that being a chief minister, Mr Kejriwal should not have used such language.
“Being fully aware of the autonomy and independence of the CBI, the accused (Mr Kejriwal) owing to his personal interest and political enmity, made some offensive remarks on his Twitter account towards the Prime Minister of this country, just because of the said raid by the CBI,” the complaint read. Mr Dwivedi said Mr Kejriwal, being an educated person and holding a very responsible post, intentionally made such defamatory and seditious comments with a view to spread a sense of hatred towards the Prime Minister and the government and the comments cannot be given protection under the right to freedom of speech and expression.
“On December 15, the accused posted the remarks on his Twitter account saying, ‘Modi is a coward and a psychopath.’ The remarks were made against the democratically-elected Prime Minister of the largest democracy of the world,” according to the plea.
Mr Dwivedi alleged that Mr Kejriwal had intentionally used such defamatory words to tarnish the Prime Minister’s image. He said he was aggrieved by the alleged defamatory and seditious remarks. “For me, Mr Modi is a respected man and being the PM of our country, no one should use such language. Mr Kejriwal’s intention was to defame Mr Modi and hence he should be prosecuted,” he said.
