Kejriwal regime circular meant to intimidate
The Supreme Court has done well to stay a circular the Delhi Government had recently issued to effectively muzzle the Press. The State's Directorate of Information had circulated a note asking officers to bring to notice malicious reporting by the media so that the Government could initiate defamatory action under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code against the ‘culprits'. The move was clearly intended to threaten the media which has been reporting on a series of negatives that the Arvind Kejriwal Government and the Aam Aadmi Party have indulged in, in recent weeks. There was no need for such a circular because, if indeed sections of the Press were engaged in defamatory writing or reporting, the existing laws are there to take care of them. The Delhi Government has a legal department which can be called upon to advice in such matters.
When the circular is seen alongside an earlier directive by Chief Minister Kejriwal to monitor the media and conduct ‘public trials' against the ‘guilty', it becomes apparent that Mr Kejriwal is afflicted by the syndrome of insecurity, in which he sees conspiracies and motives behind every word that is spoken or written against him or his Government or his party. This is disgraceful for a leader who had made transparency and tolerance his USP, and who has gained the eminence he enjoys today largely on the strength of media coverage — whether it was during the Anna Hazare agitation in which he was a lead player, or his subsequent decision to form a political party and contest parliamentary and State elections.
Television channels had then given him round the clock coverage — so much so that he cornered precious primetime space even when he was locked in an unequal battle with Mr Narendra Modi in Varanasi. Mr Kejriwal cannot then allege that the media has been biased against him. And even if it has, the way out is not to threaten his critics with defamation but to open out and communicate effectively with the Press. He must learn lessons from the Emergency.
The apex court touched a raw nerve when it reminded Mr Kejriwal that, while he has been pleading in the courts for the abolition of criminal provisions in the defamation law, he was now seeking, through the circular, to move against people under the very same provisions. It is no use arguing that the first stand is that of Mr Kejriwal as a person and the second is that of the Chief Minister of a State. Fundamental positions cannot change in this manner. The circular has, therefore, exposed the Delhi Chief Minister's hypocrisy. His image is taking a beating with every passing day, with one controversy or the other pertaining to important members of the party. His law Minister is embroiled in a fake degree case while a senior party man has locked horns with the Delhi Commission for Women. Senior and founding members of the party have quit, complaining about his ‘dictatorial’ attitude. Mr Kejriwal needs to introspect.