When Two Legal Stalwarts Sweat It Out Over Kejriwal

Arun Jaitley’s cross examination was a perfect tutorial for the students of law as to how to duck, deflect or hit Ram Jethmalani’s googlies to win the match.

- Ashok Kumar Yadav

With the dismissal of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea by the supreme court last month seeking stay on trial court proceedings in a criminal defamation case filed by finance minister Arun Jaitley, the stage was finally set for a high profile duel between two legal stalwarts. The apex court’s ruling that a judgment given in a civil proceeding was not binding on a criminal court pitted Jaitley in the firing range of firebrand lawyer and jurist Ram Jethmalani for cross examination.

Jethmalani, appearing on behalf of Kejriwal, fired 52 rapid questions at Jaitley in his bid to prove that the lawsuit on defamation by the senior BJP leader was tenuous, unfounded and should be dismissed. During the proceedings which lasted nearly two hours in a packed court room of joint registrar Amit Kumar appointed to decide whether any defamatory statements were made by the respondents, an array of questions including allegations made by veteran cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi were put to unnerve the finance minister but he retained his cool.

Besides a civil defamation suit in the high court seeking damages to the tune of Rs 10 crore, Jaitley had also filed a criminal defamation complaint on December 21, 2015 in a lower court alleging Kejriwal and five AAP leaders — Raghav Chadha, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh and Deepak Bajpai — had defamed him by making defamatory statements against him and his family members in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) which he headed for 13 years till 2013. Jaitley further alleged that Kejriwal made false allegations for “political mileage, causing irreversible damage to him.” The criminal defamation, if it succeeds, carries punishment of up to two years in jail.