On a recent Saturday, the Delhi High Court mandated Sunita Kejriwal, spouse of Arvind Kejriwal, to expunge a video of judicial proceedings related to the excise policy case from various social media platforms. Alongside her, five additional individuals received similar directives to remove the footage, which contravenes the established protocols for video conferencing in court settings.

A judicial panel comprising Justice Neena Bansal Krishna and Justice Amit Sharma issued a notice concerning a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against six entities, including Sunita Kejriwal and social media giants X, Meta, and YouTube. The petition demanded action for violations of the Delhi High Court’s video conferencing norms.

In the contentious video, Arvind Kejriwal is depicted addressing a trial court via video link on March 28, captured both visually and audibly. The court, responding with an ex-parte interim order, scheduled the subsequent hearing for July 9.

Attorney Vaibhav Singh filed the petition, asserting that the AAP leader appeared before a trial court on March 28 following his apprehension in the Delhi excise policy case. During the proceedings, Kejriwal allegedly orchestrated a scheme to disseminate the video recordings on social media, a clear infringement of the Delhi High Court’s 2021 Video Conferencing Rules for Courts.

The petition calls for the establishment of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to scrutinize the incident and lodge an FIR against those who colluded to record and distribute the court proceedings’ audio and visual materials.

Additionally, the PIL seeks directives for social media platforms to preclude the recurrence and further dissemination of such unauthorized recordings and to impose penalties on any individuals or entities for non-compliance.