Kejriwal moves HC, seeks Jaitley’s bank account details, I-T filings

DDCA: DEFAMATION CASE AGAINST CM, 5 OTHER AAP LEADERS

CHIEF MINISTER Arvind Kejriwal Saturday moved the Delhi High Court seeking Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s bank account details, and income tax and wealth tax filings, in connection with the defamation case filed against him and five other AAP leaders by the minister.

Jaitley has sought compensation to the tune of Rs 10 crore from Kejriwal and the others for allegedly issuing false and defamatory statements against him and his family in connection with alleged financial irregularities in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), while he was the president between 2000 and 2013.

The minister had told the court that he did not receive any money for his services to the cricket body.

Kejriwal, however, filed an application requesting bank account details and tax filings of the senior BJP leader and his immediate family.

The application added that these documents are necessary to verify claims made by Jaitley that he did not take any money from the DDCA.

The case was filed in December 2015. A separate criminal defamation case was also filed by the minister, which is being heard at the Patiala House court. The other AAP leaders named in the case are Raghav Chadha, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh and Deepak Bajpai.

The AAP had raised allegations over the money spent on the construction of the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium, and sponsorship deals with a company for use of private boxes.

Jaitley had alleged that the AAP leaders had “collectively undertaken a false/malicious defamatory campaign” to “gain political mileage and other unwarranted benefits at the cost of causing irreversible damage” to him and his family, as they were “political opponents of the BJP”.