A Delhi court on Monday directed that an FIR be registered in the case of a ‘doctored’ video of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal being posted on social media by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra in 2021. The court, however, said that the FIR may be registered without naming Patra as an accused in the case. Additional Sessions Judge, Dheeraj Mor, was hearing Patra’s revision petition against an order passed by Metropolitan Magistrate, Rishabh Kapoor, in 2021 which directed the police to register an FIR against Patra for posting a ‘doctored video’ of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal supporting the three farm laws passed by the Centre, saying it may have resulted in a riot-like situation across the nation. The laws were repealed by the Centre in 2021. AAP MLA Atishi had moved the court seeking registration of an FIR against Patra. ASJ Mor, while upholding the previous order, noted the name of a person in an FIR can be a "stigma and a blot" on their reputation. It said naming the accused was not an “indispensable ingredient of an FIR”. Patra had submitted that the earlier court order was illegal since no sanction had been taken from the Centre for alleged offences of promoting enmity among different groups (section 153A) and publishing statements conducive to public mischief (section 505 of the IPC). However, the court ruled that sanction of offences is required at the time of cognizance and not at the time of filing an FIR. Patra had submitted to the court that the video in question was marked as 'manipulated media' by Twitter (now X) and not a 'forged electronic document.'
