A post which detailed an exchange inside a courtroom between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju is being circulated on social media platforms.
What did the post say?: The post had text that said, "SAVAGE BY ARVIND KEJRIWAL. Arvind Kejriwal in Court: Why have you arrested me? ASG Raju: We have a statement against you. Kejriwal: So if I say I gave 100 crores to Modi and Amit Shah, will you go and arrest them basd on my statement? Judge and ASG both went quiet (sic)."
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: X/(formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)
Are these claims true?: No, there is no evidence to prove that such a conversation took place between CM Kejriwal and ASG Raju.
Additionally, The Quint spoke to reporters present inside the courtroom during the proceedings who confirmed that the viral claim is fake.
How did we find that out?: We found that CM Kejriwal had addressed the court after he was produced, when his remand period by Enforcement Directorate (ED) was expired.
Live Law, on their official X handle, had uploaded Kejriwal's statements.
Kejriwal expressed his disapproval of the evidence presented by the ED and suggested that the entire move is to crush his party.
However, we did not find any mention of Kejriwal sarcastically commenting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Newslaundry, too, had published a report on the court proceedings detailed the arguments raised by Kejriwal.
Again, there was no mention of PM Modi or Home Minister Shah.
The report was published on 28 March.
(Source: Newslaundry/Screenshot)
Reporters refute the viral claim: Tanishka Sodhi, who is a journalist at Newslaundry, said that the exchange did not happen during the court proceedings. Sodhi further asked people to stop resharing fake news.
Another journalist named 'Thyagarajan Narendran' clarified on X and said that the conversation mentioned in the viral claim did not happen.
Team WebQoof reached out to other reporters as well as lawyers present during the court proceedings, who confirmed to us that this exchange did not happen.
We have contacted Kejriwal's lawyer for their inputs and this report will be updated as and when a response is received.
Conclusion: This exchange between Delhi CM Kejriwal and ASG Raju did not take place as claimed.
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