A Delhi Court has ordered the Delhi Police to lodge an FIR over a morphed video that attempts to show CM Arvind Kejriwal singing an obscene song, after a complainant contended that the tone & tenor of the video was an attempt to tarnish the CM’s image & reputation.

On Friday, Metropolitan Magistrate Kishor Kumar told the Station House Officer (SHO) of Paschim Vihar police station to take action within a week.

The Court, in its Order, said that “In the video in question, the tone & manner of the song is not only lowering the reputation of the constitutionally elected chief minister but the same is also addressing public/voters in abusive manner who have exercised their constitutional/ electoral rights while voting for Aam Aadmi Party for the purpose of electing Arvind Kejriwal as the chief minister of Delhi".

Advocate & Social Activist Amit Sahni had moved the plea on March 3in which he said that after the video was uploaded on YouTube soon after the results of Delhi assembly elections on Feb 12, 2020.

In its action taken report (ATR), the Police said that they had not found anything obscene in the videos & no cognisable offence was made out to register an FIR.

In its order of Sept 24, however, the Court disagreed with the police’s assessment. “I find there is prima facie cognisable case having been disclosed by the complainant on the basis of the CD in question in which Arvind Kejriwal as the chief minister of Delhi is shown singing ....under Section 294 (obscene acts & songs) of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) read with 67 (lascivious content) of the Information Technology Act,” the Judge said while directing the police to file the compliance report by Dec 2.

The Govt of Delhi didn't respond to requests for comment.

Sahni said that the abusive content was being circulated to public at large, which would create a negative impact on kids who were unable to understand the manner in which the video was morphed.

The Complaint reads, “The video was uploaded on February 12, 2020, & the result of Delhi Vidhan Sabha Election was announced on January 11, 2020, with the sole object of degrading the constitutionally elected chief minister". 

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Picture Source : <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arvind_Kejriwal_(potrait).jpg" title="via Wikimedia Commons">RAJINDER PAL SINGH BRAR</a> / <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0">CC BY-SA</a>