Delhi HC disposes of Arun Jaitley's defamation suit against Arvind Kejriwal for remarks made by Ram Jethmalani

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday disposed of the defamation suit filed by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for remarks made by AAP leaders’ ex-lawyer Ram Jethmalani, according to reports. [caption id=“attachment_4416261” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Reuters[/caption] This comes after Kejriwal offered a written apology to Jaitley on Monday in two defamation suits filed by Jaitley of Rs 20 crore. The first was filed in December 2015 against Kejriwal and several other Aam Aadmi Party leaders for accusing Jaitley of irregularities and financial bungling during his 13-year tenure as president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA). The second case was filed in May 2017 against the Aam Aadmi Party leader over the use of an objectionable word by his counsel Ram Jethmalani during the hearing for the first defamation case. In his 1 April apology letter, Kejriwal underlined that Jethmalani’s remarks against Jaitley in the court were made without his consent, according to The Indian Express. Jaitley had accepted the apology in the civil defamation cases and his counsel M Dogra told ANI on Monday, “We’ve moved the Delhi High Court for civil matters and Patiala House court for criminal complaints. In the civil case, we’ll agree to a decree in the matter based on an apology and acceptance thereof.” This was the fourth apology that Kejriwal has tendered recently to rid himself of defamation suits. The Delhi chief minister had earlier apologised to Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari, Congress leader Kapil Sibal’s son Amit and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia. With inputs from agencies