Court to announce order on Arvind Kejriwal's plea on DDCA matter

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court will on January 30 pronounce its order on whether Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders have a right to be heard on point of framing of notice in a criminal defamation complaint filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley against them.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Dass, who was scheduled to pronounce the order today, fixed the matter for the next date, saying the order was not ready.

The accused had on October 24 last year moved the court seeking a chance to be heard before it decided on whether they would be put on trial in the criminal defamation complaint.

Jaitley's counsel had urged the court to frame the notice/charge against the accused persons, claiming there was no such provision in law.

Jaitley had filed the criminal defamation complaint alleging that the accused had defamed him in a controversy regarding Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) when he headed it for over a decade.

A civil defamation suit has also been filed by Jaitley before Delhi High Court in the matter seeking Rs 10 crore as damages.