No defamatory statement against Jaitley: CM tells HC

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday framed issues against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders in a civil defamation suit filed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, notwithstanding their claim they had not made any defamatory statements against him in the DDCA case. The issues were framed by Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw against Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders after the CM’s counsel denied the allegations and submitted that whatever was said against the Union Minister was in the public domain and he has not said anything on his own. Besides Kejriwal, other leaders Raghav Chadha, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh and Deepak Bajpai also stated that there is absolute denial on their part and they are opposing the Union Minister’s plea. 

The court then framed issues against all the six AAP leaders and fixed the matter for September 27 before Joint Registrar to decide whether any defamatory statements were made by them. In a civil suit, when one party affirms and other party denies a material proposition of fact or law, then only issues arise. Some of the issues framed by the court include whether Jaitley is entitled for any damage for the alleged defamatory statements made by AAP leaders and what should be the amount. 

“Whether the statements which are in public domain are actionable or not,” the court said in one of its issues. During the hearing, the judge objected to the statements made by senior advocate H S Phoolka, appearing for one of the AAP leaders, that the court is giving special treatment to this suit.