A Delhi court on Saturday framed charges against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and five AAP leaders and sent them to trial in a defamation case filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Sumit Das framed charges against the six accused — Mr. Kejriwal, Ashutosh, Kumar Vishwas, Raghav Chaddha, Deepak Bajpai and Sanjay Singh — after they pleaded not guilty and claimed a trial.
Recording of evidence
Later, the CMM fixed May 20 as the date for recording the evidence of witnesses listed by Mr. Jaitley in his complaint.
The CMM had in January this year dismissed a joint application by the six accused seeking permission to address arguments at the stage of framing of charges.
Opposing the application, counsel for the Minister Sidharth Luthra, along with Manoj Taneja, had argued that there was a settled law in a summons case that the court had no option but to frame notice against the accused persons.
The Minister has filed the case against the accused for allegedly linking him to alleged corruption in the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA).
In March 2016, the court had summoned Mr. Kejriwal and the five AAP leaders after recording the statements of Mr. Jaitley and other witnesses in support of the allegation of defamation.
The court had, among others, examined Rajat Sharma, chairman and editor-in-chief of India TV, as a witness in support of Mr. Jaitley. He said he was very disturbed about the reputation of the complainant (Mr. Jaitley) when I saw the allegations by the accused persons that ₹57 crore had been siphoned off during his tenure as DDCA president.
Mr. Jaitley had said in his evidence that he did not receive a single rupee from the DDCA on any account during his presidential term between 1999 and 2013.
“Between December 1999 and December 2013, I was the president of DDCA. I discharged my functions lawfully and with utmost integrity. During my tenure I have not received directly or indirectly a single rupee from the DDCA on any account whatsoever. I have not even charged any amount towards expenditure,” Mr. Jaitley had said in his evidence.
Mr. Jaitley has sought prosecution of Mr. Kejriwal and the five AAP leaders for allegedly defaming him and his family by accusing him of taking illegal pecuniary benefits from the DDCA when he was heading it.
