Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was delaying the proceedings in the defamation suit filed against him and five other AAP functionaries by him.
Seeaking an early hearing on the matter, Jaitley’s lawyer told the High Court that irrelevant questions were being asked by the counsel for Kejriwal during his cross-examination in the high court and sought an early hearing in the matter.
“They are asking irrelevant questions and also wasting court’s time. Why they are delaying the trial? We are seeking earliest dates possible because they (Kejriwal’s counsel) are in no hurry to conclude the cross-examination (of Jaitley),” senior counsel Sandeep Sethi and advocate Manik Dogra, appearing for Jaitley, were quoted by PTI.
Meanwhile, Jaitley appeared in the court for the ninth round of questioning. He was fired 26 questions by Kejriwal’s lawyers during a hearing that lasted for 90 minutes. Jaitley maintained his calm even while being grilled in the Rs 10 crore civil defamation suit filed by him.
Senior advocate Anoop George Chaudhari and advocate Anupam Srivastav, appearing for Kejriwal, said there was no need for an early hearing and the court should give the next date as given in any other case.
To this, the court said it would decide on the next date and listed the matter for February 2, 12 and 13 next year to continue Jaitley’s cross-examination.
The court was also informed by Jaitley’s counsel that earlier a single judge of the high court had directed the joint registrar to expedite hearing of a defamation suit which was challenged by Kejriwal and AAP leader Ashutosh before a division bench.
Jaitley has filed the defamation suit against Kejriwal and AAP leaders Raghav Chadha, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh and Deepak Bajpai, for accusing him of financial irregularities in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) of which he was the President from 1999 to 2013. The allegations were denied by the union minister.
Janta Ka Reporter was the first news portal, which published a series of reports on the alleged irregularities in the DDCA when Jaitley was the cricket body’s chief. You can read our exclusive coverage here.