NEW DELHI, AUGUST 21: The Supreme Court dismissed a petition by Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal that sought to throw out a 2017 criminal defamation complaint against him. A Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu rejected the appeal on Friday, forcing the political leader to face the legal proceedings stemming from a nearly decade-old controversy.
Badal approached the apex court to challenge an October 2025 ruling by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had similarly turned down his request to squash both the complaint and a March 2020 judicial magistrate summoning order. The legal battle traces back to January 2017, when Badal, acting as the then deputy chief minister of Punjab, publicly alleged that the religious organisation Akhand Kirtani Jatha functioned as a political front for the banned terrorist group Babbar Khalsa International.
During the Friday hearing, the apex bench questioned Badal’s legal representation regarding the core accusations. “We have read this order. What is alleged against you? You say that this is a terrorist organisation and this complainant is the spokesperson of the other organisation which is the political front…,” the Bench observed to Badal’s counsel.
Defending the SAD chief, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal countered the scope of the defamation claim by questioning the complainant’s credentials. Sibal argued, “He says he is the spokesperson. We don’t know who has authorised him.” The defense further maintained that Badal never explicitly named the individual complainant as the spokesperson of the targeted organisation.
The defamation case originated after a private individual, claiming to be the chief spokesperson for the Akhand Kirtani Jatha, filed a lawsuit in his personal capacity. The dispute erupted after former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited the complainant’s residence in January 2017. Following that visit, Badal allegedly reiterated his defamatory remarks across multiple media outlets and political rallies, prompting the spokesperson to seek legal recourse for damages to his reputation.
