Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expects the Delhi government to pay around Rs 3.8 crore in legal fees in a defamation case filed against him by Union minister Arun Jaitley, NDTV reported on Tuesday. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has forwarded the bills to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal for clearance. Baijal has sought experts’ opinion to figure out whether the government should pay the chief minister’s legal bill.
Kejriwal’s team of lawyers include Ram Jethmalani, who is believed to be the most expensive advocate in the country. He has reportedly billed Kejriwal Rs 1 crore for his retainership and Rs 22 lakh for each appearance in court to represent the chief minister. The Times of India reported that Jethmalani has made 11 appearances in the case so far.
The lawyer said that if Kejriwal could not pay his fee, he would treat the Delhi chief minister as one of his poor clients and represent him for free, ANI reported. “I charge only the rich. For the poor, I work for free. All this is instigated by [Arun] Jailtley who is afraid of my cross-examination,” Jethmalani said.
The files accessed by TimesNow contain documents that say “the chief minister made statements in the media explaining the stand of the government on such raids. Defamation cases, criminal as well as civil, were filed against the CM pursuant to the statements made in his official capacity”.
The case is related to Kejriwal’s allegations against Jaitley accusing the senior minister of wrongdoing when he was the president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association. Jaitley had filed a civil and criminal defamation case against Kejriwal and a few other Aam Aadmi Party leaders in 2016. He has also sought Rs 10 crore in damages.
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