Jethmalani accuses Kejriwal of lying in defamation case, quits as his lawyer

Jethmalani, representing the CM in a Rs 10 crore civil defamation case, allegedly used the derogatory word against Jaitley during a hearing in the high court on May 17

Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani on Wednesday accused Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of lying in a defamation case filed by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader.

Jethmalani also told Jaitley he had used the derogatory word on the instruction of Kejriwal. (HT Photo)

Jethmalani’s charge came days after Kejriwal filed an affidavit in the Delhi high court denying the lawyer’s assertion that he used a derogatory word against Jaitley on the instruction of the chief minister.

The legal eagle said he will no longer represent Kejriwal in the civil and criminal defamation cases.

“The reason being he lied that he did not give me instructions, fact is he did,” Jethmalani told a news agency.

Jethmalani also dared the chief minister to release a letter which purportedly contains details of discussions between Kejriwal and the lawyer on the case. A Times of India report said Kejriwal “used even more objectionable words against Jaitley” during the discussions.

“He (Kejriwal) should release (the) letter which I sent to him,” Jethmalani said.

Jethmalani, representing the CM in a Rs 10 crore civil defamation case, allegedly used a derogatory word against Jaitley during a hearing in the high court on May 17, the report said

Jethmalani also told Jaitley he had used the word on the instruction of Kejriwal. This prompted Jaitley to file a separate Rs 10 crore criminal defamation case against the chief minister.

In his affidavit to the HC later, Kejriwal said it was “inconceivable that he (Kejriwal) would even think of instructing the senior counsel to use such objectionable words”, the report added.

Jethmalani said he has asked Kejriwal to clear his legal fees of Rs two crore.

“Fees nahi dega to koi baat nahi, main hazaaron logon ke liye free mein kaam karta hoon (It’s ok, if he does not pay. I work for free for thousands of people), Jethmalani added.

(With agency inputs)