Kejriwal put on trial in Jaitley defamation case

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and five other Aam Aadmi Party leaders were on Saturday put on trial by a court here in a criminal defamation case filed by Union Minister Arun Jaitley in the District Cricket Association controversy, amid chaotic scenes in the court room.

During the proceedings, some advocates got into a heated argument over the non-appearance of Jaitley and on the issue whether the matter should be adjourned.

After one of the lawyers issued threats to another counsel inside the court room, the accused persons — Kejriwal, Ashutosh, Kumar Vishwas, Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chaddha — who were present in the court, said they were facing a serious threat and cited the JNU sedition case violence a year back when men in black robes had beaten up varsity students and journalists.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Dass, thereafter, called security personnel and ordered that the court room be cleared barring those who were connected with the case.

Thereafter, notice was framed against the accused under Section 500 (punishment for defamation) of the IPC to which they pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

Notice was also famed against another AAP leader Deepak Vajpai who was represented by his counsel.