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Arvind Kejriwal's plea for DDCA papers denied

Joint Registrar Pankaj Gupta refused to admit the application filed in connection with a civil defamation case, lodged by Jaitley against Kejriwal and five other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders.

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Stating that the court 'cannot be used as an instrument to create evidence or conduct the roving and fishing enquiry for Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi High Court (HC) on Tuesday dismissed the Chief Minister's application that sought summoning of the minutes of Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) meetings, held when Union Minister Arun Jaitley was the president of the sporting body.

Joint Registrar Pankaj Gupta refused to admit the application filed in connection with a civil defamation case, lodged by Jaitley against Kejriwal and five other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders.

Appearing for Kejriwal, his counsel had argued that subject record was needed during the cross-examination of the witness. The court, however, refused to accept this contention and said: "The onus to prove the issues is on the defendant no. 1 (Kejriwal). He has to stand on his own legs."

The court also stated that while filing the written statement, Kejriwal had mentioned a number of documents, such as complaints, reports of committees, and print and electronic media reports. There was, however, no mention of the subject record.

"It implies that the subject record was not even in the public domain during the period when the defendant no. 1 (Kejriwal) made the statements. Otherwise, he must have filed the same along with the written statement," the court said.

"It is nowhere mentioned in the case of the defendant no 1 (Kejriwal) that he has gone through the subject record at any point of time. It implies that he himself is not aware of the contents of the documents forming part of the subject record. Thus, Kejriwal has failed to substantiate the basis to summon Jaitley for cross-examination," the court stated in its 15-page order.

In his application, Kejriwal, through his counsel Anupam Shrivastav, sought the minutes of the meetings held by the General Body and the Executive Committee or Board of Directors of DDCA between 1999 and 2014. Appearing for Jaitley, his counsel Amit Mahajan had said that the application was not moved properly.

Jaitley had filed a Rs 10 crore civil defamation suit against Kejriwal and five other AAP members for accusing him of financial irregularities during his tenure as the DDCA president. The AAP leaders had allegedly attacked Jaitley and his family members, including on social media, over the alleged irregularities and financial bungling in the sporting body.

Kejriwal is also facing another Rs 10 crore defamation suit, filed by Jaitley in May this year, over the use of an objectionable word by his lawyer, Ram Jethmalani, during the Union Minister's cross-examination.

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