Setback for Kejriwal: Delhi HC rejects plea to stay trial in defamation case filed by Arun Jaitley

Delhi High Court has rejected Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea to stay the proceedings before a trial court in a criminal defamation case filed against him and other AAP leaders by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

As per Kejriwal’s plea, there are two cases–one civil and the other criminal–filed against AAP leaders on the same allegations and the trial court should have stayed the proceedings in the matter, but it had declined.

Arun Jaitley had on December 21, 2015 filed the criminal defamation case against the AAP leaders and sought their prosecution for offences that entail a punishment of up to two years in jail.

Besides the criminal defamation case, Jaitley has also filed a civil defamation suit in the High Court seeking Rs 10 crore in damages from Kejriwal and the five AAP leaders for issuing allegedly false and defamatory statements against him and his family in connection with alleged irregularities in DDCA when he was its president.