Jaitley defamation case: Delhi CM Kejriwal paid Rs 4 crore of taxpayer’s money to lawyer Ram Jethmalani?

A Bharatiya Janta Party MLA on Monday claimed that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has paid Rs 4 crore of taxpayers’ money as fees to senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani in criminal defamation case against him. 

BJP MLA Tajinder Pal S Bagga tweeted: “@ArvindKejriwal paid Rs 4 Crore Delhi Public money to Mr Ram jethmalanai in his personal legal case (Sh Jaitly Defmiantion case).”

Bagga had recently joined BJP. 

. @ArvindKejriwal paid Rs 4 Crore Delhi Public money to Mr Ram jethmalanai in his personal legal case (Sh Jaitly Defmiantion case) pic.twitter.com/aR2wNwpN8N

— Tajinder Pal S Bagga (@TajinderBagga) April 3, 2017

In another report, it has been claimed that Deli CM has written to Lt Governor Anil Baijal asking the administration to pay off his lawyer bill of Rs 3.86 crore as it was necessary for the government to enlist the senior litigator. “Payment of bills may be made as and when the bills are received from the Ld Counsel,” the letter addressed to LG by Deputy CM Manish Sisodia states.

The defamation case against Kejriwal was filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The latter was accused by Delhi CM of indulging in massive corruption during his tenure as the Delhi and District Cricket Administration (DDCA) chief between 1999-2013. 

Kejriwal, along with AAP leaders Ashutosh, Kumar Vishwas, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chaddha and Deepak Bajpai were pressed with civil and criminal defamation suits. 
The hearing is currently underway.

AAP leader Bala Subramanian, who appeared on Times Now, defended the decision of the Delhi government. Instead, he accused the channel of ‘running a propaganda’ against AAP in the wake of upcoming MCD elections. Subramanian pointed out that the letter was sent to LG on December 21, 2016, questioning the channel over the timing of raking up the matter.

Jaitley had filed the defamation suit in December 2015. He had sought Rs 10 crores from Kejriwal, along with penal action for maligning his public image.

Delhi High Court has put Kejriwal, along with other AAP leaders on trial in the matter. The high court said that Kejriwal’s plea, which also sought the bank statements of Jaitley’s family members and companies in which he or they had over 10 per cent shareholding, was a “fishing or roving enquiry” and did not have any merit. The hearing is scheduled to commence from May 20.