False allegations will not stand: Kejriwal on acquittal in defamation case

After a court here acquitted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia in a defamation case on Saturday, the AAP national convener said false allegations levelled against them will not stand as truth always prevails.

"We will continue to work with honesty," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi, and hit out at his detractors: "Their conspiracies shall fail."

The court on Saturday acquitted Kejriwal, Sisodia and former AAP leader Yogendra Yadav in the defamation case filed by an advocate in 2013.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidhi Gupta Anand said the complainant, advocate Surender Kumar Sharma (now deceased), failed to prove that the accused have committed the alleged offence despite several efforts.

In the order, the judge also said the concept of "Reputation was known in the society perhaps since the time the civilization itself established".

Following the acquittal, Kejriwal tweeted, "No false allegation levelled against us will stand, each case filed against us will be rejected. The Almighty is with us..we will continue to work with honesty. Their conspiracies shall fail and truth will always prevail."

According to the complainant, in 2013 he was approached by volunteers of AAP who had asked him to contest the Delhi assembly elections on a party ticket, saying Kejriwal was pleased with his social services.

He filled up the application form to contest the polls after being told by Sisodia and Yadav that AAP's political affairs committee had decided to give him the ticket.

However, it was later denied to him. On October 14, 2013, the complainant claimed that articles in leading newspapers carried "defamatory, unlawful and derogatory words used by the accused persons" which have lowered his reputation in the Bar and the society.

The complainant died on November 1, 2020 and the trial was continued till its end by the substituted complainant and his nephew, Yogesh Kumar Gaur, who is also an advocate by profession.