Kejriwal, 5 others put on trial in Jaitley case

New Delhi, March 25

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders were today put on trial by a court here in a criminal defamation case filed by Union Minister Arun Jaitley in the DDCA controversy, amid chaotic scenes.

During the proceedings, some advocates got into a heated argument over non-appearance of Jaitley and on the issue whether the matter should be adjourned.

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After one of the lawyers issued threats to another counsel, the accused — Kejriwal, Ashutosh, Kumar Vishwas, Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chaddha, who were present — said they were facing a serious threat and cited the JNU sedition case violence a year back when men in black robes had beaten up students and journalists.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Dass, thereafter, called security personnel. 

Thereafter, notice was framed against the accused under section 500 (punishment for defamation) of the IPC to which they pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

Notice was also famed against another AAP leader Deepak Vajpai. Later, the court posted the matter for May 20. Before the court’s order, some of the defence counsel sought discharge of the accused citing absence of Jaitley at “such an important stage”. “It’s a political case. There are many people languishing in jail due to pendency of cases and trials. Let this trial also proceed in the due course and not on a fast-track basis,” the CM's advocate said.

Jaitley had filed the complaint alleging that the accused had defamed him in a controversy regarding Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) which he headed for over a decade.

A civil defamation suit has also been filed by Jaitley in the Delhi High Court  seeking Rs 10 crore as damages. — PTI