Delhi Government on Thursday refused to comment on the Supreme Court's stay order on its circular on filing of defamation cases against media houses for publishing or broadcasting news that damage the reputation of the Chief Minister, the council of ministers and the government.
Delhi Government on Thursday refused to comment on the Supreme Court's stay order on its circular on filing of defamation cases against media houses for publishing or broadcasting news that damage the reputation of the Chief Minister, the council of ministers and the government.
Asked about the government's reaction, a Delhi Government spokesperson said it's a Supreme Court order and "we don't want to comment on it". The Supreme Court also issued notice to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and sought his response on a plea of senior advocate Amit Sibal that the stay on the criminal defamation proceedings against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader be lifted.
The court asked Kejriwal to also explain why such a circular was issued by his government while expressing surprise as to how the AAP leader could have opposite views on the same issue. According to the circular issued by the Directorate of Information and Publicity Department of Delhi Government on May 6, if any officer associated with the Delhi government feels that the published or aired news item damages his or the government's reputation, he should file a complaint with the Principal Secretary (Home).
The circular stated that the Principal Secretary (Home) will then examine the matter and will also seek the opinion of the Director (prosecution) as to whether the prosecution under section 499/500 of the IPC is to be launched.
If as per the opinion of the Director (prosecution), offence of defamation is made out the Principal Secretary will refer the matter to the Law Department for examining the matter and obtain the sanction of under section 199(4) of the CrPc.
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