File Picture Courtesy : DNA India
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is facing heat ever since he had taken on the Union Finance minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley. In the much talked about Kejriwal vs Jaitley battle, the Delhi High Court in recent order has fined Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Rs 5,000 for delay in submitting a reply in the defamation case filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley against him ANI reported.
The matter relates to Jaitley’s Rs 10-crore suit against Kejriwal after the chief minister’s former lawyer Ram Jethmalani called the finance minister a crook in court in May. This is in addition to the defamation case against Kejriwal and other AAP leaders, which the finance minister had filed in 2015.
On August 28, the court had dismissed Kejriwal’s plea against the decision of a single judge bench to expedite hearing of the civil defamation suit.
On August 23, the court had asked Kejriwal to file a response to Jaitley’s plea seeking action against him for allegedly submitting a false affidavit. Jaitley had filed an application claiming that the Aam Aadmi Party chief had not been truthful in his affidavit in the defamation case when heclaimed he had not asked his former counsel Ram Jethmalani to use derogatory words. Jethmalani had opposed Kejriwal’s statement and withdrawn from the case. He no longer represents the chief minister.
The 2015 case is related to Kejriwal’s claims that Jaitley had misused funds and his position while he was the president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association. Jaitley had filed a civil and criminal defamation case against Kejriwal, Raghav Chadha, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh and Deepak Bajpai in 2016. He also sought Rs 10 crore in damages.
