Jaitley Lost by 1 Lakh Votes, Has No Public Character: Kejriwal

Kejriwal files a 2000-pages long written reply to the Delhi HC, responding to Arun Jaitley’s defamation suit.

Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister, New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Tuesday, filed a response to Delhi High Court regarding the defamation suit filed against him and other AAP members by Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley.

Arun Jaitley had filed the suit against Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders last month, over their allegations of large-scale corruption in the DDCA during the time when Jaitley was the organisation’s chief. Jaitley has also filed a civil suit, claiming Rs. 10 crore in damages.

Arvind Kejriwal and AAP spokesperson, Raghav Chadda, have filed a 2000 pages long written reply to the Delhi High Court.

In the written response to Delhi court, Kejriwal said:

<p> The plaintiff’s claim that he enjoys and, in fact, possesses high public character is a totally frivolous and unsustainable claim. No injury of any kind has been caused to the plaintiff’s reputation which he claims. This is not a suit for injury to his private character, but to his public character, if at all. This defendant denies that he has any reputation of this kind to protect.</p>

Kejriwal also added:

<p> The last time he contested the election to the Lok Sabha was from Amritsar as a BJP candidate in 2014. Despite the success of the BJP this plaintiff lost by a margin of more than 1,00,000 votes. Indian democracy has never accepted his claim of public character.</p>

Last week, Mr Jaitley told the Patiala House Court that Mr Kejriwal had started a “false, malicious and defamatory campaign for political mileage, causing irreversible damage” to him.