A Delhi court has ordered the police to register an FIR against BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra for sharing a doctored video of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The video portrays the leader as speaking in support of the recently revoked farm laws, as per a report by a news agency.
The video was posted by Patra in January this year and it purportedly showed sections of an interview of Kejriwal which were edited to make it appear as if he had spoken in support of the Centre’s farm laws.
Aam Aadmi Party’s Rishikesh Kumar took to Twitter to state that they sought directions from the court under sections 156(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
The judge noted, “The fact that the video was published on the Twitter handle of proposed accused with the caption ‘teeno farm bills ke laabh ginate hue (Counting the benefits of the three farm bills) Sir ji’…, prima facie proves that same was circulated with no intention but to cause the farmers to believe that Kejriwal is supporting the farm laws, which may have perpetuated the state of outrage with the protesting farmers and may have resulted in rioting like situation across the nation.” The court said that a “thorough investigation” was required to be conducted considering the seriousness of the allegations and directed the SHO to register the FIR against Mr. Patra and initiate the probe.
