Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday recorded his statement at a Delhi court regarding the criminal defamation suit he filed against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and five other Aam Aadmi Party leaders. Jaitley accused them of making false statements against him and his family members. He also said that the AAP leaders made the statements to deflect attention from a Central Bureau of Investigation probe against a particular person who is working with Kejriwal, PTI reported. The matter has been adjourned till February 3.
Jaitley filed the defamation case after the AAP government in Delhi alleged that there was corruption within the Delhi and District Cricket Association during the Union minister’s tenure as its president. The case also named AAP members Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh, Kumar Vishwas, Raghav Chadha and Deepak Bajpai. The DDCA has also filed a separate defamation case against the AAP leaders.
Jaitley had strongly denied any charges of corruption and was backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre, but the Delhi assembly later voted for an inquiry to be held into the cricket body’s alleged irregularities. The inquiry commission is to be headed by former solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam.
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