HC notice to CM on Jaitley’s fresh ₹10-cr defamation suit
NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Tuesday issued notice to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in a fresh ₹10 crore defamation suit filed by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley over the CM’s lawyer using an objectionable word.
Joint Registrar Pankaj Gupta sought the response from the Aam Aadmi Party leader on the damages sought by Jaitley and posted the matter for further hearing on July 26.
This is a separate case from the ongoing ₹10 crore Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) defamation suit filed by Jaitley in 2015 against Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders. They had accused the BJP leader of corruption when he was president of the DDCA for 13 years since 2000. Jaitley dismissed the charges as false.
On May 17, while cross-examining Jaitley in the 2015 case, senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, appearing for Kejriwal, referred to the finance minister as “crook”.
“This statement is not only false, baseless, malicious and abusive, but is per se defamatory… Clearly, the defendant (Kejriwal) has brazenly and with a malafide intent to cause further prejudice, damage and loss to the name, reputation and credibility of the plaintiff (Jaitley) has deliberately used the terminology against the plaintiff,” the new petition filed by Jaitley read.
Senior advocate Jethmalani had said, “I intend to show that this man (Jaitley) is a crook.”
It prompted strong objection from the Union minister, who asked Jethmalani whether the word was used by him in his personal capacity or as per the instruction of Kejriwal. Jethmalani told the court that he used the word against Jaitley under the CM’s instructions.
But Anupam Srivastav, the advocate on record for Kejriwal, submitted that there was no such directive from the CM.
Jaitley warned Jethmalani that he will “aggravate” the charges against Kejriwal. His new petition said Jethmalani made a further defamatory remark during his cross-examination that he is “guilty”.
“These per se defamatory statements made on specific and categorical instructions of the defendant are politically motivated to cause serious damages to the reputation of the plaintiff in an entirely irreversible manner,” the petition read.
The legal action compounded the AAP leader’s troubles. Kejriwal is battling bribery charges by a former colleague, internal feuds after loss in the Punjab and Goa assembly elections and the municipal polls in New Delhi.