The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay a defamation case against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal filed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, The Hindu reported. Jaitley has said that Kejriwal and five Aam Aadmi Party falsely accused him of corruption during his tenure as head of the Delhi District Cricket Association.
A bench comprising justices PC Ghose and UU Lalit said the court would decide on the matter “according to the records of the case”. The bench did not accept advocate Ram Jethmalani’s argument that civil and criminal defamation proceedings on the same matter could not take place simultaneously. It said that the evidence and proceedings of both cases were different from one another and should be considered separate.
The Supreme Court’s refusal to stay the case came after the Delhi High Court on October 19 dismissed a petition by Kejriwal on the same matter. The court set aside the AAP leader’s plea, calling it “devoid of merit”. It concluded that the May 19 decision of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate to proceed in the case was “free from perversity, impropriety, illegality and non-sustainability”.
The others named in the case filed in December 2015 include Raghav Chadha, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh and Deepak Bajpai. A Patiala House Court had granted bail to the defendants in April. Jaitley had also filed a Rs 10-crore civil suit against Kejriwal and the five AAP leaders.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!