Delhi HC exempts Arvind Kejriwal from personal appearance in criminal defamation case

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday exempted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from personal appearance before a trial court on 11 December in a criminal defamation case filed by Rajya Sabha MP and Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra. [caption id=“attachment_4246895” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. PTI[/caption] Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal, however, refused to stay the trial court’s proceedings in the case and posted the matter for 22 January. The high court, while issuing notice to Delhi Police and Chandra, sought their response on Kejriwal’s plea to stay the summons issued to him by the trial court. Chandra had sought Kejriwal’s prosecution for allegedly defaming him by levelling false allegations in the wake of demonetisation. Chandra had said in his petition that Kejriwal made “false, fabricated and defamatory allegations” against him while addressing a press conference on November 11 last year. Chandra sought Kejriwal’s prosecution under Section 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code.