Delhi court stays non-bailable warrants against Kejriwal, Sisodia and Yogendra Yadav

A Delhi court on Wednesday stayed the non-bailable warrants it had issued against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and Yogendra Yadav, president of Swaraj India, after the three failed to appear before it in a criminal defamation case filed in 2013.

The order

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal passed the order after lawyers for the three leaders asked for the warrants to be cancelled. The court said it would take up the main matter on April 29.

The trial court had earlier summoned the three, saying there was prima facie material to proceed against them, and had granted them bail when they appeared in response to the summons. The summons were issued under sections 499 and 500 (defamation) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.

The complaint

The complainant, Sharma, alleged that in 2013 volunteers of the Aam Aadmi Party approached him to contest the Delhi Assembly election on the party’s ticket, telling him that Kejriwal was pleased with his social work.

He said he filled in the application form after Sisodia and Yadav told him that AAP’s Political Affairs Committee had decided to give him the ticket, but the ticket was later denied to him. He alleged that on October 14, 2013, leading newspapers carried articles containing defamatory words used by the accused, which harmed his reputation at the Bar and in society.

The leaders’ defence

Opposing the complaint, the AAP leaders argued that allotting or withdrawing an election ticket was the party’s right, and that the complainant had not disclosed correct information about cases pending against him.

See also: political leaders

Originally published on 24 April 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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