DDCA row: Kejriwal files application in Delhi HC seeking quashing of defamation case filed by Jaitley

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday filed an application in the Delhi High Court, seeking quashing of the defamation case filed against him by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, reported Times Now. According to ANI, Kejriwal has also sought three weeks from the court to respond in the defamation case brought on by the DDCA allegations. [caption id=“attachment_2613728” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Arvind Kejriwal. AFP[/caption] The next hearing on the case will be on 15 February, reported India Today. Jaitley had filed a Rs 10-crore civil defamation suit against Kejriwal because of AAP’s allegations of corruption in the DDCA. On 21 December, 2015, the Union finance minister filed a criminal defamation complaint against Kejriwal and other AAP leaders for allegedly defaming him and sought their prosecution for offences that entail a punishment of up to two years in jail. In his complaint, Jaitley had said the chief minister and other AAP leaders, with common intention, have from 15 December, 2015, undertaken “a false, malicious and defamatory campaign against him and his family members for political mileage causing irreversible damage to him”. The complaint had referred to certain allegations made by AAP leaders in press conferences, including one claiming that the CBI had raided the office of a Delhi government officer looking for Jaitley’s “tax scam files” and there was corruption worth several hundred crores during his tenure and that he had shielded DDCA for over 15 years. Jaitley had said such statements have been made orally and through Twitter handle of the AAP leaders, which were carried by the media from 15 to 20 December last year. With inputs from PTI