The Delhi high court on Tuesday sought response of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders acting on a civil defamation suit filed against them by finance minister Arun Jaitley
The Delhi high court on Tuesday sought response of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders acting on a civil defamation suit filed against them by finance minister Arun Jaitley.
The court issued notice to Mr Kejriwal and AAP leaders Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha and Deepak Bajpai on the suit by Mr Jaitley seeking '10 crore in damages for issuing allegedly false and defamatory statements against him and his family members.
Joint registrar (JR) Kovai Venugopal said, “Issue notice to the defendants (AAP leaders). Written statements by the defendants be filed within three weeks. Thereafter, in two weeks’ time, the plaintiff (Mr Jaitley) will file replication.”
Mr Kejriwal and other leaders of his party were asked to file original documents related to the allegations levelled in the suit against them in one week.
The matter is now fixed for the next hearing on February 5, 2016 for admission/denial of documents. Mr Kejriwal and Mr Vishwas were not present in the court but the four other AAP leaders — Ashutosh, Sanjay, Raghav and Deepak — attended the proceedings.
The finance minister took the action after Mr Kejriwal and the other AAP leaders made allegations against him over alleged irregularities and financial bungling in Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), of which he was the president for about 13 years till 2013. The BJP leader has also filed a criminal defamation complaint before a trial court against Mr Kejriwal and the five other AAP leaders for making false allegations about financial irregularities in the DDCA.
At the Patiala House courts complex on Monday, Mr Jaitley accompanied by a phalanx of Union ministers, including M. Venkaiah Naidu, Smriti Irani, Dharmendra Pradhan and J.P. Nadda had alleged that the AAP leaders have made completely baseless and defamatory allegations.
