Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will file civil and criminal defamation cases against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and some other AAP leaders on Monday.
Besides Kejriwal, cases will be filed against AAP leaders Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha and Deepak Bajpayee.
The Finance Minister told the PTI that cases are being filed in his personal capacity against Kejriwal and others who have issued “false and defamatory” statements against him and his family members.
Jaitley headed DDCA for 13 years till 2013 and the AAP has demanded that Jaitley must resign or be “removed” from the Union Cabinet to enable an independent probe. On Sunday, the AAP Government decided to set up a Commission of Inquiry headed by former solicitor general Gopal Subramanium to probe alleged irregularities including financial bungling.
Dismissing charges against the Finance Minister, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “We are proud of the impeccable qualities of honesty, integrity and credibility of Arun Jaitley. The transparency and credibility with which he has lived his public life all these years and his commitment to probity is too well-known.”
Prasad said any “personal prejudices ought not to play any role in such matters” but refrained from making a reference to the Darbangha MP Kiriti Azad who also held a press conference dealing with the alleged irregularities in DDCA..
Prasad also pooh-poohed the AAP Government’s announcement of the setting up of a Commission of Inquiry, saying it does not come under its jurisdiction.
He said DDCA has also formed a committee to look into the allegations levelled by others, including AAP, and the organisation will address them.
Prasad, however, pointed out that a Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) probe undertaken by the Congress-led UPA Government got “nothing at all” anything against Jaitley.
Taking a dig at the AAP, he said, “People who are politicising this, I want to ask these people who used to promise to fight against corruption before as to why they are trying to protect officials who are facing corruption charges.”