Spoke against Jaitley on basis of Kejriwal’s info: Vishwas tells court
NEWDELHI: Kumar Vishwas, one of the founding members of the AAP and dissident leader, informed the Delhi High Court on Thursday that his statements against Union minister Arun Jaitley were made on the basis of the information given by Delhi chief minister and party leader Arvind Kejriwal.
Vishwas, the lone person who refused to apologise in to Jaitley in the defamation suit filed against him and five other AAP leaders including Kejriwal, said he made the statements as a party worker on the information given by Kejriwal. The rebel leader, who was present in the court after he was asked to be personally appear, said he wanted to check whether Delhi CM lied to him before he apologised to Jaitley for his comments.
Appearing for Jaitley, his counsel Manik Dogra argued that Vishwas had earlier said that he had seen the documents and now he is saying that he repeated what the party’s top brass said. “Now he cannot say that he was parroting what the others said,” Dogra said seeking Vishwas’s apology like others. During the proceedings, when Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw asked whether Vishwas has any difficulty in apologising, he said that he regretted any harm caused to the reputation to Jaitley due to the statements but would still needed more time to decide what statement he can make to dispose of the suit.
Following this, the court fixed May 28 as the next date of hearing.
Union minister Jaitley had filed the defamation suit against Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders for their statements alleging financial irregularities in the DDCA during his tenure as the President of the cricketing body.