Jaitley’s defamation case against Kejriwal closed
The Delhi high court on Tuesday closed the defamation suit filed by Arun Jaitley against Arvind Kejriwal in the DDCA row, after the Delhi CM tendered an apology to the Union finance minister.
While a city court on Tuesday acquitted chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and four other AAP leaders in a criminal defamation case filed by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, the Delhi High Court also allowed another settlement plea of these leaders in a ` 10- crore defamation suit in the Delhi and District Cricket Association ( DDCA) row.
Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Samar Vishal considered a joint application which was filed after the AAP convenor apologised to the BJP leader for making defamatory remarks relating to the row.
According to the joint application, apart from Mr Kejriwal, other AAP leaders — Raghav Chadha, Sanjay Singh, Ashutosh and Deepak Bajpai — have apologised for their statements against Mr Jaitley in connection with alleged irregularities in the DDCA.
Kejriwal may be on an apology spree, but a section of MLAs, leaders in the party still strongly disapprove of his act.
Those making small donations to the party are also believed to have questioned the logic behind the apologies.
Mr Jaitley had on August 5 last year accused Mr Kejriwal and other AAP leaders of making a series of “false, scandalous and defamatory” allegations against him, claiming it adversely affected his reputation. Mr Vishwas has not tendered an apology and hence, the proceedings
against him shall continue. The AAP leaders had alleged financial irregularities in the DDCA when Mr Jaitley was its president from 2000 to 2013, prompting the minister to lodge a defamation case against them while denying all the allegations.
The high court also allowed another joint settlement plea of Mr Jaitley, Mr Kejriwal and four other AAP leaders in the defamation suit filed against them by the Union minister. The plea for settlement was allowed by Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw as Mr Kejriwal and the four AAP leaders tendered an apology to Mr Jaitley, who accepted it. The court, however, said the defamation suit against Mr Vishwas will continue as he has not offered to settle the matter. The high court also asked Mr Jaitley’s counsel Manik Dogra to inform Mr Vishwas, who was neither present nor represented by any counsel, about Tuesday’s order and said that if nobody appeared for him on April 26 ( the next date of hearing), the court will proceed against him.