Gadkari, Sibal, Majithia forgive Kejriwal; will Jaitley be kind? Updates

The Congress advised the Delhi Chief Minister to change his name to Arvind 'Sorry' Kejriwal, adding that this is what happened when 'one does politics for sensationalism'

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has launched an apology spree to put an end to the defamation cases against him. After saying sorry to former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia, he has so far apologised to Congress leader Kapil Sibal's son Amit Sibal and Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nitin Gadkari for making unverified allegations of corruption against them. Days earlier, Kejriwal had conceded to Majithia that his allegations of the latter being involved in drug trade were unsubstantiated. The apology spree could also mark the end of AAP's combative and activist politics.      

After he tendered his apology, Kejriwal was acquitted in two separate defamation cases lodged against him by Amit Sibal, a senior advocate and son of former Union minister Kapil Sibal, and Gadkari. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, a co-accused with Kejriwal in the defamation case lodged by Sibal, was also acquitted after he, too, tendered an apology to the lawyer. Kejriwal intends to bring an end to the 33 defamation cases against him by means of similar out-of-court settlements and individual "understandings", say sources. According to AAP leaders, the various cases have drained the party's resources and money.     

The Congress and the BJP, however, hauled Kejriwal over the coals. The Opposition party advised that the Delhi chief minister should change his name to Arvind 'Sorry' Kejriwal, while the ruling party at the Centre lashed out at the AAP chief's brand of politics. 

The AAP chief has been dragged to courts in multiple defamation cases lodged by various political leaders, including Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit. Kejriwal still has to contend with Jaitley's case, and sources in the AAP had told news agencies last week that the senior BJP leader could also soon receive an apology from the Delhi chief minister.

Last week, Kejriwal wrote to Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia, apologising for accusing him of being involved in drug trade without any proof to back the allegations. The apology, however, did not go down to well with everyone and triggered what amounted to a virtual rebellion in the AAP Punjab unit. Subsequently, Bhagwant Mann resigned as AAP's Punjab unit chief. However, things seem to have improved since Kejriwal's meeting with AAP members of the Punjab legislative Assembly, with most saying they understand the decision of the party's national convenor.  

Amit Sibal had filed a defamation suit against Kejriwal and Sisodia for alleging that Kapil Sibal had a conflict in seeking to revise a tax demand on telecom major Vodafone. In 2014, Gadkari had filed a defamation suit against Kejriwal after the AAP chief named him in a list of "corrupt politicians". In the defamation case filed by Gadkari, it was alleged that Kejriwal had called him "India's most corrupt".   

Here are the top 10 developments in Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's apology spree that has so far covered Majithia, Sibal, and Gadkari:

1) Congress says AAP chief should change his name: The Congress on Monday advised the Delhi Chief Minister to change his name to Arvind 'Sorry' Kejriwal, adding that this is what happened when "one does politics for sensationalism". Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjwala said, "There is a sorry Chief Minister in the country. He should change his name to Arvind Sorry Kejriwal. This is just the beginning of his trail of saying sorry, and not the end."    

"He also has to apologise to the people of Delhi and the country, whom he has deceived," added Surjwala.  

"He also has to apologise for poor governance. When you do politics only for sensationalism, and not for balance, then this going to be the consequence," said the Congress leaders, adding, "The propaganda which was spread by him and his associates in collusion with BJP-RSS at Ram Leela Maidan during UPA rule, the truth of it has come out."

"Delhi is sorry to have Kejriwal and his government," he added. 

2) Shivraj Singh Chouhan has a piece of advice for the AAP chief: Kejriwal, who has received much ridicule over his apologies, given his past brand of politics, also received some advice on how to go about his apology spree. The Delhi chief minister's Madhya Pradesh counterpart, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, tweeted a piece of advice: "Arvind-ji, if you heed my suggestion then make a list of people that you need to apologise to and prepare an apology letter headed 'To whomsoever it may concern'. 

"This would save you the hassle of apologising repeatedly," Chouhan's tweet said. 

3) BJP says 'anarchic character' of Kejriwal's politics exposed: BJP's Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari took a dig at Kejriwal and his apologies, stating that the "anarchic character" of the "NGO politics" practised by the Delhi chief minister now stood exposed before the people of the country. 

Tiwari also alleged that Kejriwal was a regular violator of the law and that he had, in connivance with a section of the media preferring to run anti-establishment news, "misused" the Right to Information Act against his political opponents.

4) Sisodia says don't want to waste time on defamation cases: Defending his party chief's apologies to Majithia, Gadkari, and Sibal, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Monday that he would use his time in service of the people instead of doing rounds of the courts for defamation cases filed against him and Kejriwal. "We will apologise to the people we have hurt. We're here to serve the people; we do not have the time to go to courts for such issues," said Sisodia, adding, "We're here to build schools and hospitals for the welfare of people."   

Sources have told news agencies that Kejriwal intends to bring an end to all the defamation cases against him, which reportedly number 33, by means of similar out of court settlements and individual "understandings". According to AAP leaders, the various cases have drained the party's resources and money. 

5) Anjali Damania says Kejriwal backing off 'meekly': Displeased by his string of apologies, former AAP leader Anjali Damania attacked Arvind Kejriwal, asking the AAP chief why he had published a list of 20 "corrupt politicians" if he wanted to "back off meekly". Further, Damania rejected Kejriwal's contention that he wanted to focus his strength in Delhi.

  

"Ideally, with a strong MLA force of 67 out of 70 MLAs, he should have entrusted the functioning of the Delhi government to his trusted MLAs and fought each one of the cases and ensured victory in every single matter and punish(ed) these corrupt politicians," she said. "It is extremely upsetting to see Arvind seeking apology from Gadkari despite concrete evidences given by me. Why on the earth had the AAP issued a list of 20 most corrupt politicians if they were to back off meekly?" added Damania. 

Damania was once a key associate of Kejriwal. She had accused Gadkari of irregularities in his Purti Group of companies. Kejriwal, for his part, had gone on to name Gadkari as one of the most corrupt politicians in India. Taking objection to this, Gadkari had moved the court against Kejriwal for allegedly defaming him. 

Besides spear-heading the campaign against Gadkari, Damania had also contested against him from Nagpur in the Lok Sabha polls 2014. 

Damania added that she still has 24 defamation cases against her and that she would fight them out until the end. Damania had quit AAP in 2015 at a time when the party was witnessing an ugly spat between Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav on one side and Kejriwal on the other. 

6) Arvind Kejriwal acquitted in Gadkari and Sibal defamation cases: Despite the criticism, AAP's apology strategy does seem to be paying off, at least as far as dealing with the defamation cases is concerned, concerns over how it will impact the party's political image notwithstanding. Kejriwal was on Monday acquitted in the two separate defamation cases lodged against him by Gadkari and Amit Sibal after he issued an apology to both of them.   

After Manish Sisodia also tendered an apology to Amit Sibal through a letter, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal acquitted the deputy Delhi chief minister, who was a co-accused along with Kejriwal in the defamation case lodged by Sibal.  

The relief came from the court after the apologies were accepted by the complainants in both the cases. 

However, the proceedings against lawyer Prashant Bhushan and BJP leader Shazia Ilmi will continue in the defamation case lodged by Amit Sibal.  

7) Kejriwal opposes second Rs 100-million defamation suit by Jaitley in HC: In the Delhi High Court, Kejriwal on Monday opposed the second Rs 100 million (Rs 10 crore) defamation suit against him by Arun Jaitley over the use of an objectionable word by the chief minister's former lawyer Ram Jethmalani. The AAP chief claimed that he had never instructed his then counsel, Jethmalani, to use any scandalous words against Jaitley during recording of his evidence.  

Jaitley had filed the second defamation suit after Jethmalani allegedly "abused" him in the open court during the proceedings of the original defamation suit he had filed against the AAP chief and five other party functionaries. 

However, the chief minister maintained that apart from the ground of "absolute privilege, the present suit is also barred by Section 126 of the Indian Evidence Act". 

"The statement, upon which the suit is based on alleged defamatory imputations made by the senior advocate (without any oath), allegedly on the instructions of the defendant (Kejriwal), which he could not have disclosed," Kejriwal said in his written statement filed through advocate Anupam Srivastava.

Section 126 of the Evidence Act bars disclosure of any professional communication between an advocate and his client, including instructions given by the client in relation to his case.

During the cross-examination of the minister on May 17 last year before Joint Registrar in the Delhi High Court, Jethmalani had used a term Jaitley found objectionable.

The second suit filed through advocate Manik Dogra has said that the minister enjoyed a reputation of honesty and probity and had sacrificed large professional earnings in order to undertake public service.

8) Kejriwal apologises to Gadkari, Sibal: Days after Kejriwal regretted having accused Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia of being involved in the drug trade, Kejriwal apologised to BJP leader and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Congress leader Kapil Sibal for making unverified allegations of corruption against them. Both leaders withdrew their defamation cases against the AAP chief on Monday.   

In a March 16 letter to Gadkari, Kejriwal said he was feeling sorry for making "certain statements, without regard to its verifiability, which seem to have hurt you...".

"I have nothing personal against you. I regret the same. Let us put the incident behind us and bring the court proceedings to a closure," said the letter. 

Addressing the Union Shipping and Transport Minister, Kejriwal also suggested that "we should put our energy to serve the people of this country in the spirit of mutual respect".

Later, Gadkari and Kejriwal filed a joint application in the Patiala House Court, seeking the withdrawal of the defamation case. "Kejriwal has acknowledged that (the) complainant (Gadkari) was hurt on account of unverified allegations and expressed regret, in the larger public interest" and that "the complainant does not wish to pursue the defamation case", read the application. The court allowed the plea and disposed of the case.


 

Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also wrote to Congress leader Kapil Sibal and his son Amit, seeking apology for making "unfounded" allegation against them at a joint press conference on May 15, 2013. "Now, I have learnt that the allegation I made against you and your father at the press conference were unfounded. I hereby withdraw all my allegations made against you and your father and apologise for the same," the AAP leaders said. 

"The damage caused to your esteem, the hurt cause to your family, friends and well-wishers and the loss caused to you is regretted," Kejriwal and Sisodia wrote in separate but identical letters. 

The four -- Kejriwal, Sisodia and the Sibals -- then jointly wrote to the court seeking withdrawal of the defamation case by the Sibals. The court disposed of the case filed by Amit Sibal after Kejriwal alleged conflict of interest over his appearing in the Supreme Court for Telecom major Vodafone when his father was the union Communication Minister. 

9) Kejriwal tries to pacify dissenting Punjab AAP MLAs: On the backfoot after tendering an apology to Bikram Singh Majithia, the AAP on Sunday sought to pacify its party MLAs from Punjab in a bid to avert a split in the state unit. Kejriwal's apology letter to Majithia for accusing him of being involved in the drug trade took everyone by surprise, especially the AAP's Punjab unit.   

The party's Punjab president Bhagwant Mann and its co-president Aman Arora resigned from their posts in protest against Kejriwal's apology.

Of the 20 AAP MLAs from Punjab, 10 lawmakers along with state unit leaders met Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia at his residence in New Delhi on Sunday, where Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was also present. 

The chief minister is said to have given an explanation for his apology to Majithia. 

10) Anna Hazare taunts Kejriwal: Following Kejriwal's apology to Majithia, social activist Anna Hazare last week taunted the AAP chief, saying that one should not do anything for which one has to tender an apology later. "Why should one do anything for which one has to tender an apology later on," Anna Hazare told the media.  

Hazare said that making a mistake and tendering an apology is more or less the same thing. "One should try not to do anything that forces one to tender an apology," he said.

With agency inputs