Former BJP member Ram Jethmalani to defend Kejriwal in defamation case

Former BJP member and senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani will be defending Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the defamation case filed against him by Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Monday.

Jethmalani was expelled from BJP in 2013 after making anti-party comments. His battle with the BJP, from which he was expelled in May 2013 for "breach of discipline" goes back several years.

Earlier this year, he also published an article in the form of an advertisement criticising the Modi government for its stance on the black money issue, in which he posed 12 stinging questions to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley asking his view on bringing back the money from foreign bank accounts into India.

The Aam Aadmi Party have repeatedly blamed Jaitley on the alleged financial irregularities in DDCA, after the CBI raided the Delhi secretariat last week.

Jaitley, who was the president of DDCA till 2013, has rubbished the allegations against his family members.

However, on Monday, the finance minister filed a civil defamation case against Kejriwal and five other Aam Aadmi Party leaders including Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha and Deepak Bajpayee over their comments on the alleged irregularities in Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), seeking Rs10 crore as damages.

Jaitley accused AAP leaders of issuing false and defamatory cases against him and his family members.