On Saturday, a Delhi court put Chief Minister Aravind Kejriwal and 5 others on trial for a criminal defamation case against him by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The finance minister filed this case after the DDCA matter. The legal advisers of both the sides had a heated war of words on the absence of Arun Jaitley in the court after Sumit Dass, the chief metropolitan magistrate (CMM) initiated the proceedings. The CM along with other accused complained to the court of ‘serious threat’ related to the absence of the finance minister upon which the court sent everyone out apart from those related to the case.
The five other accused framed by the CMM were AAP leaders – Ashutosh, Kumar Vishwas, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha and Deepak Bajpai. He framed the case after they pleaded not guilty and demanded a trial. These trials will begin on the May 20th. The finance minister filed defamation case seeking Rs. 10 crores compensation in defamation from Kejriwal and AAP leaders Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha and Deepak Vajpayee. He said that they made ‘false and defamatory’ statements involving DDCA and hence have harmed his reputation.
The AAP leader used different platforms including social media to attack Jaitley and his family and alleged irregularities and financial packaging in Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) for which Jaitley was president for 13 years. The court also dismissed Kejriwal’s appeal to seek bank accounts, tax returns and also financial records of the finance minister. The court said that this plea was ‘fishing or roving inquiry’ and does not have any merit to be proceeded upon.
