Today, On 27th January, The Supreme Court will hear a criminal defamation case against Arvind Kejriwal and former Delhi CM Atishi Marlena on April 21, 2026. The matter stems from their allegations of large-scale voter name deletions from Delhi’s electoral rolls during recent Delhi elections.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court announced today that it will hear a criminal defamation case against former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Marlena and Arvind Kejriwal concerning their allegations of widespread deletion of voter names from the electoral rolls in the national capital, scheduled for April 21, 2026.
In August 2025, a Bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice NK Singh had allotted a non-miscellaneous day for the matter’s final hearing.
During today’s proceedings, Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora informed the court that the issues at hand were similar to a pending defamation case against Congress Leader Shashi Tharoor.
This was met with objections from Additional Solicitor General SV Raju. The court permitted Arora to file a rejoinder and set the matter for final hearing.
Last May, the Supreme Court had maintained a stay on the criminal defamation proceedings and remarked,
“You settle the scores somewhere else; as a political personality, you should have thick skin.” The complainant’s counsel requested four weeks to submit a reply.
Previously, in September 2024, the Apex Court had stayed the criminal defamation proceedings against AAP leaders Kejriwal and Atishi Marlena.
They both challenged the Delhi High Court’s decision, which had declined to quash the defamation case filed against them.
The case originated from allegations made by AAP leaders Kejriwal and Atishi against the BJP regarding the deletion of voter names from the electoral rolls. BJP leader Rajiv Babbar subsequently filed a criminal defamation suit, contending that these allegations tarnished the party’s reputation.
Kejriwal accused the BJP of “removing names of AAP supporters” from the rolls, “adding fake voters” to the rolls, and “openly distributing cash” in the constituency, claiming alterations that affected around 12,000 voters.
In September 2024, the Delhi High Court dismissed a petition from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal aimed at quashing a summons issued in Babbar’s defamation suit. Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta’s Bench rejected claims by Kejriwal and other AAP leaders to set-aside a sessions court’s ruling, which had supported a magisterial court’s order summoning them as defendants in the matter.
During a press conference held at the AAP headquarters alongside Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha and former Chief Minister Atishi, Kejriwal stated that the BJP was attempting to win elections through “unfair means after failing to present strong candidates or positions on issues.”
He added,
“A large-scale ‘Operation Lotus’ began on December 15, with around 5,000 voter deletion applications and 7,500 addition requests filed so far in New Delhi.”
The High Court characterized the remarks as prima facie defamatory, aimed at disparaging the BJP by accusing it of orchestrating the removal of voter names.
The court observed that such statements were made for political gain. Consequently, the High Court upheld the trial court’s decision to summon Kejriwal and other AAP leaders for defamation.
It noted that while citizens have the right to accurate information to form opinions about political processes, political parties cannot utilize the media to disseminate defamatory assertions against their rivals.
Case Title: ARVIND KEJRIWAL AND ANR. Versus STATE (NATIONAL CAPITAL TERRITORY OF DELHI) AND ANR. (SLP(Crl) No. 13279/2024 II-D)
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