Prove your innocence, don't try to scare us with lawsuits, Kejriwal tells Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Unmoved by the defamation suit filed by Arun Jaitley, Delhi chief minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the finance minister should not try to scare him or his party members by filing cases.

"Jaitley should not try to scare us by filing cases in court. He should cooperate with the Commission of Enquiry and prove his innocence there," Kejriwal said in a tweet, refusing to be cowed down by the Rs 10-crore defamation lawsuit filed against him over the DDCA row.

"We shall continue to fight corruption," Kejriwal added.

कोर्ट में केस करके जेटली जी हमें डराने की कोशिश ना करें। भ्रष्टाचार के ख़िलाफ़ हमारी जंग जारी रहेगी।

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 21, 2015

Jaitley filed a criminal complaint against Kejriwal and five other leaders of AAP for allegedly defaming him in the DDCA controversy before a Delhi court which took cognizance on his plea.

"The present complaint has been filed in personal capacity. On perusing the material on record, I take cognizance of the offences. Matter be now put up for complainant evidence on January 5," Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Khanagwal said.

Jaitley ji shud cooperate wid the Commission of Enquiry n prove his innocence there

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 21, 2015

Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, who appeared for Jaitley, told the court that the accused Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders have made completely baseless and defamatory allegations against the finance minister regarding alleged financial irregularities in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA).

"Jaitley has not drawn a single penny from the DDCA. Completely baseless and defamatory allegations have been levelled against him and his family members," Luthra said.

During the 35-minute long hearing, Jaitley and various other top leaders of BJP, including Union Ministers M Venkaiah Naidu, J P Nadda, Smriti Irani, Dharmendra Pradhan, Piyush Goyal and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore were present in the court.

Besides Kejriwal, Jaitley has filed the complaint against AAP leaders -- Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha and Deepak Bajpai -- for their alleged defamatory remarks.

Luthra told the court that they have made defamatory statements against Jaitley not only in a press conference but also on their Twitter accounts.

The complaint has been filed for the alleged offences under sections 499 (defamation), 500 (punishment for defamation), 501 (printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory), 502 (sale of printed or engraved substance containing defamatory matter), 34 (common intention) and 35 (when such an act is criminal by reason of its being done with a criminal knowledge or intention) of the IPC.