DDCA defamation case: Delhi Court seeks reply from Kejriwal

The Delhi Court on Tuesday sought reply from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's application in the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) case.

Jaitley moved an application seeking directions to expedite the recording of evidence in a time bound, fair, dignified and bonafide manner in ongoing civil defamation case for Rs. 10 crore against Kejriwal.

Next date of hearing in this matter is on July 24.

The application further contends that the intention of the defendant (Kejriwal) is to delay the conclusion of recording of evidence by posing irrelevant questions which are designed to be insulting and annoying.

Application also states that in the last session of cross examination, Senior Advocate Ram Jethmalani had called the applicant a 'Crook' after which applicant categorically stated that he would aggravate the charges against Kejriwal, if the abusive statement were made under his instructions.

On July 7, the Delhi High Court issued a notice to Jaitley over the application filed by Kejriwal in this matter.

Arun Jaitley had filed a criminal defamation suit against Arvind Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders including Ashutosh, Kumar Vishwas, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chaddha and Deepak Bajpai.

In his complaint, Jaitley had accused Kejriwal and others of defaming him in a controversy regarding the DDCA and sought Rs 10 crore as damages. Jaitley was president of the DDCA for over a decade.