Think Before You Retweet: Delhi High Court's Ruling On Defamation In The Digital Age

In a recent Delhi High Court judgement¹, the Court laid the foundational stone on the jurisprudence of retweeting and whether it amounts to 'publication' for the offence of defamation under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 ("IPC"). It was held that every retweet of defamatory imputation would ordinarily amount to 'publication' under Section 499 of the IPC, and it is ultimately for the person so aggrieved to decide as to which retweet caused more harm to his reputation, and inter alia lowered his moral or intellectual character or his credibility among the members of society.

Background and Contentions of the Parties

A Youtuber, Dhruv Rathee, had posted a tweet on Twitter (Now, 'X') which claimed that members of the BJP IT Cell had paid money to a third party to have him defamed. The Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, retweeted this post, and has been accused of defamation for such retweet. Arvind Kejriwal approached the Delhi High Court for