The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed CM Arvind Kejriwal's plea for a stay on trial court proceedings in a criminal defamation case filed against him and five other AAP leaders by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the wake of DDCA controversy. Justice PS Teji rejected the plea of Kejriwal and said, "There is no illegality or un-sustainability in the law in continuation of the criminal proceedings before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate empowered to continue the same."
The court clarified that both the matters between Kejriwal and Jaitley — civil suit pending before the High Court and the criminal defamation case before the trial — are "separate and independent proceedings and they can go side by side". The court further said no prejudice would be caused to the accused by the parallel hearing of civil and criminal defamation cases.
Kejriwal had challenged the trial court's May 19 order to turn down his plea to stay the hearing in the criminal defamation case, till the high court decided a related civil suit.
Kejriwal said there are two cases — one civil and the other criminal — filed against AAP leaders on similar allegations and the trial court should have stayed the proceedings in the matter, but it had declined. Jaitley had, in December last year, filed both civil and criminal defamation cases against Kejriwal and the other five AAP leaders for allegedly defaming him and sought `10 crores in damages and their prosecution for offences that entails a punishment of upto two years in jail.