The BJP on Tuesday termed the Delhi government’s attempts to clear Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s legal fees related to a defamation case through public funds “dacoity and loot” of the people’s money, and declared that it would not allow this.
Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said his Cabinet colleague and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had filed a defamation suit against Mr. Kejriwal for the latter’s “personal crime” and that using the public exchequer to pay the legal bills for that was against the law. “It’s illegal and immoral. Why should the people of Delhi pay for your [Kejriwal’s] sins? This is a dacoity and loot of their money and is completely unacceptable,” Mr. Javadekar said.
According to him, Mr. Jaitley had paid ₹10 lakh stamp duty for the same case, from his pocket, and had been paying the bills of his lawyers from his private funds. He alleged that Mr. Kejriwal’s politics was based on defaming others and people should not pay for his “sins.”
The Delhi government has reportedly made a proposal to pay a bill of close to ₹4 crore sought by Mr. Kejriwal’s lawyer but Lt. Governor Anil Baijal has sought Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar’s advice in the matter. Mr. Javadekar said Mr. Kejriwal was facing at least seven defamation cases and wondered if the city government would pay over ₹100 crore if he loses them.
He added that Mr. Jaitley had paid ₹10 lakh stamp duty for the same case, from his pocket, and had been paying the bills of his lawyers from his private funds. He alleged that Mr. Kejriwal’s politics was based on defaming others and people should not pay for his “sins”.
Govt. proposal
The Delhi government has reportedly made a proposal to pay a bill of close to ₹4 crore sought by Mr. Kejriwal’s lawyer but Lt. Governor Anil Baijal has sought Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar’s advice in the matter.
Mr. Javadekar said Mr. Kejriwal was facing at least seven cases of defamation and wondered if the city government would pay over ₹100 crore if he loses the case.
He accused the Aam Aadmi Party of first denying such a proposal and said now the party was claiming that the government wanted to pay it as the case was against the Chief Minister. “The fact is the case is not against a chief minister but an individual. His actions have nothing to do with the government. He has tried to defame Mr. Jaitley and his family members and will have to pay for it,” Mr. Javadekar said.
Taking a dig at the AAP, he said its leaders had promised to not avail themselves of official vehicles and residences, and lead a simple life if elected to power but the party had become an example for reasons completely opposite to its claims.
Jethmalani’s stance
However, Mr. Kejriwal’s lawyer Ram Jethmalani declared his intention to defending the former’s case without charging any fees for his appearances. “I will certainly defend him [Mr. Kejriwal] even if he can’t pay, but he said ‘no, I want to pay, send us the bills’, so I have sent the bills. Even if the government does not support him, I will. If necessary, I will support him for his livelihood because he is a clean force compared to Arun Jaitley,” said Mr. Jethmalani.
The bills total up to around ₹3.4 crore. “If he is unable to pay I will do it for free. I render free services to 90 per cent of my clients,” said Mr. Jethmalani.
