Jethmalani Calls Jaitley a “Crook” in DDCA Defamation Hearing

The Kejriwal vs Jaitley case is becoming Jethmalani vs Jaitley in the court.

(Photo: The Quint/Harsh Sahani)

Senior Advocate Ram Jethmalani and Union Minister Arun Jaitley have been warring with words during the former's cross-examination in a defamation case against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Heated exchanges were witnessed between Jaitley and Jethmalani, who is representing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi High Court on Wednesday.

The recording of Jaitley's statement in a civil defamation suit of Rs 10 crore filed by him against Kejriwal and other AAP functionaries could not take place as the minister objected to the use of the word “crook” against him by the noted lawyer representing the Chief Minister.

Also Read: Kejriwal Defamation Case: Jaitley Cross Examined by Ram Jethmalani

“I will aggravate the charges against the defendants (Kejriwal)... There is a limit to personal malice,” Jaitley said.

Asked to clarify the source of the word "crook", Jethmalani said the word has been used by him on instruction from his client (Kejriwal).

Senior advocates Rajiv Nayar and Sandeep Sethi, who were representing Jaitley, also said that Jethmalani was putting scandalous questions and should restrain himself from asking irrelevant ones "as this matter is Arun Jaitley versus Arvind Kejriwal and not Ram Jethmalani versus Arun Jaitley".

According to Live Law, in a hearing on the same case held earlier on 15 May, Jethmalani told Jaitley:

I put it to you that you have no reputation whatsoever, what do you have to say? Since you are a minister in the Cabinet, the best character witness for you should be the prime minister himself. Do you intend to examine him?

A group of lawyers including Jethmalani who were defending the AAP leaders also said that Jaitley was not entitled to a claim of Rs 10 crore on account of his alleged defamation.

Jaitley has filed the civil defamation suit seeking Rs 10 crore damages from Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders – Raghav Chadha, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh and Deepak Bajpai – for accusing him of financial irregularities in the DDCA of which he was the President from 2000 to 2013.

(With inputs from IANS and PTI.)