The Delhi High Court has reserved its order on Law Minister Kapil Mishra’s plea seeking copies of the chargesheet in a case over his alleged objectionable tweets during the 2020 Delhi Assembly polls. The case stems from a complaint filed by the returning officer under Section 125 of the Representation of the People Act.
New Delhi: On August 28, the Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved its order on an application filed by Delhi Law Minister Kapil Mishra. He had requested the court to provide him with certain clear and legible copies of documents related to the supplementary chargesheet filed in a case against him.
The matter is connected to allegations that Mishra posted objectionable tweets during the Delhi Assembly elections in 2020.
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The case was heard by Justice Ravinder Dudeja, who had earlier turned down Mishra’s request to stay the proceedings that are currently going on before the trial court. On Thursday, Justice Dudeja reserved his order on the fresh application seeking copies of the chargesheet papers.
The Delhi High Court is also hearing Mishra’s main petition where he has challenged a sessions court order. That sessions court order had dismissed his plea against the summons issued by a magistrate’s court in the same case.
According to the case records, Kapil Mishra had allegedly made some objectionable posts on January 23, 2020, on his official X account (then called Twitter) in connection with the Delhi Assembly polls.
Based on those tweets, a complaint was filed by the returning officer of the election. Acting on the complaint, the police registered an FIR against Mishra.
The sessions court, while considering Mishra’s plea earlier this year, had clearly supported the magisterial court’s decision.
In its order dated March 7, the sessions court said it was in “complete agreement” with the magistrate that the complaint made by the returning officer was sufficient to take cognisance of the offence.
The offence in question falls under Section 125 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which deals with promoting enmity between classes in connection with elections.
With the High Court now reserving its order, the case remains pending on the issue of providing copies of the chargesheet to Mishra, while the trial proceedings continue at the lower court level.
