Seeking response of the Chief Minister and five other AAP leaders on a civil defamation suit filed against them by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice to them.
Joint Registrar (JR) Kovai Venugopal issued notice to Kejriwal and other AAP leaders — Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha, and Deepak Bajpai — on the suit by Jaitley seeking Rs 10 crore in damages for issuing allegedly false and defamatory statements against him and his family members. “Issue notice to the defendants (AAP leaders). Written statements by the defandants be filed within three weeks. Thereafter, in two weeks’ time, the plaintiff (Jaitley) will file replication,” the JR said.
The court also asked AAP convenor Kejriwal and other leaders of his party to file original documents related to the allegations levelled in the suit against them in one week.
The JR fixed the matter for February 5, 2016, for admission/denial of documents. While Kejriwal and Vishwas were not present in the High Court, four of the AAP leaders — Ashutosh, Sanjay, Raghav and Deepak, attended the proceedings. Jaitley’s action comes in the backdrop of attacks on him by Kejriwal and other AAP leaders over alleged irregularities and financial bungling in Delhi’s cricket body, Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), of which he was the president for about 13 years till 2013.
Jaitley has also filed a criminal defamation complaint before a trial court against Kejriwal and the five other AAP leaders for making false allegations about financial irregularities in the DDCA.
In a packed courtroom at the Patiala House courts complex on Monday, Jaitley, who was accompanied by a phalanx of Union Ministers, including M Venkaiah Naidu, Smriti Irani, Dharmendra Pradhan and J P Nadda, had alleged that AAP leaders have made completely baseless and defamatory allegations.
The court of the Chief Metroplitan Magistrate then took cognisance of the complaint and posted the case for January 5 when Jaitley will record his testimony.
During the hearing on Tuesday, senior advocates Pratibha MSingh, Rajiv Nayar, Sandeep Sethi and advocate Anil Soni, appearing for Jaitley, told the JR that “malicious and defamatory” campaign
was causing irreversible
damage to him.
“All defendants individually and collectively have made themselves liable to compensate the plaintiff for a sum of Rs 10 crore,” they said, appealing to the court to pass a decree of damages against the defendants.