Gujarat HC rejects Kejriwal’s plea seeking separate trial in defamation case

Gujarat High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, seeking a separate trial from AAP leader Sanjay Singh in a criminal defamation case lodged by Gujarat University over alleged defamatory remarks concerning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's educational degree.

Kejriwal had initially approached the magistrate's court requesting a separate trial, arguing that the incidents occurred on different dates, involved distinct videos uploaded on separate Twitter (now X) handles, and that evidence against one accused could not be applied to the other. The magistrate's court rejected this plea on September 23, 2023.

He then challenged the magistrate's order before the Ahmedabad Sessions Court, which dismissed the revision application on December 15, 2025.

The court held that both leaders appeared to have acted as part of a single transaction animated by a common purpose, with continuity in their actions through similar defamatory language and related video content. This justified a joint trial under Section 223(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which allows joint trials for persons accused of the same offence committed in the course of the same transaction.

The defamation complaint was filed by Gujarat University against Arvind Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh, accusing the two AAP leaders of making defamatory statements regarding the non-disclosure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's educational degree.