Delhi High Court notice to Kejriwal on Jaitley’s suit
The Delhi HC on Tuesday issued notice to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a fresh Rs 10 crore defamation suit filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over his lawyer Ram Jethmalani using the word "crook".
Joint Registrar Pankaj Gupta issued the notice to Kejriwal and posted the matter for July 26.
Jaitley, in the second civil defamation suit against Kejriwal, claimed the objectionable words caused him "permanent harm and disrepute".
This is a separate case from the ongoing Rs 10 crore Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) defamation suit against Kejriwal and five other Aam Aadmi Party leaders that Jaitley filed in 2015.
On May 17, Jaitley and senior advocate Jethmalani clashed in the court with the Union Minister taking strong objection to the word "crook" that Jethmalani used while cross-examining the Minister.
During the cross-examination conducted on behalf of Kejriwal, Jethmalani subjected Jaitley to "numerous questions, terminologies, statements that are exfacie abusive, malicious, offensive, irrelevant and slanderous", Jaitley said in his new plea.
Senior advocate Jethmalani had said: "I intend to show that this man (Jaitley) is a crook." It prompted strong objection from the Minister, who furiously asked Jethmalani whether the word "crook" was used by him in his personal capacity or as per the instruction of Kejriwal.
Jethmalani had said it was used by him on instructions from his client; Jaitley then threatened to seek higher damages. "I will aggravate the charges against the defendants (Kejriwal)... There is a limit to personal malice," Jaitley had said. –IANS