Trouble began when Jethmalani used the word ‘crook’ during court proceedings of a defamation case filed by Jaitley against Kejriwal.
In a jolt for Arvind Kejriwal, senior advocate Ram Jethmalani has quit as the counsel for the Delhi CM in two defamation cases filed by Union Minister Arun Jaitley.
The noted jurist informed Kejriwal about his decision through a letter and also told him to clear the dues of Rs 2 crore. The move comes after the Chief Minister categorically denied telling Jethmalani to use the word ‘crook’ in front of the Joint Registrar during the proceedings in the Delhi High court.
In his affidavit, Kejriwal said it was "inconceivable that he would even think of instructing the senior counsel to use such objectionable words."
“The answering defendant (Kejriwal) vide letter dated 19.7.2017 has conveyed to the senior counsel directly that no instructions to use the words like ‘crook’ and ‘guilty of crimes and crookery’ were ever given by him at time of point to the learned Senior counsel (Jethmalani),” Kejriwal said in an affidavit filed on Monday.
The affidavit was a reply which Kejriwal had filed in the High Court after Jaitley had moved an application in the High Court to expedite the proceedings of the defamation against the former.
“Kejriwal, had on record used many more worse words for Jaitley. But now he is denying this. How can he do this? I feel cheated,” Jethmalani said while addressing the media.
The veteran lawyer has sought Rs 2 crore from the CM as his fees. “Forget about the second defamation case, I have not got the payment for the first case even. I fight for free for many people, but my fees should have been cleared,” Jethmalani said.
On May 17, Jethmalani had used the word ‘crook’ during the proceedings of a defamation case filed by Jaitley against Kejriwal. Jaitley, who had filed the civil defamation suit claiming Rs 10 crore damages from Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders, had filed another defamation suit of Rs 10 crore against the Chief Minister alone after Jethmalani used the word ‘crook’ during the court proceedings.
Earlier, Jethmalani had said that he was ready to fight for free and even support Kejriwal for his livelihood because he was a clean force in comparison to Jaitley.
The top lawyer said this after a controversy was courted when Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia directed the General Administration Department to clear the bills totalling around Rs 3 crore to Jethmalani.
“I will certainly defend him even if he can't pay, but he said 'no, I want to pay, send us the bills', so I have sent the bills. Even if the government does not support him, I will. Even if he cannot pay, I will fight the case for free,” the senior lawyer had said in April this year.
According to Jethmalani, the Chief Minister has also written a letter to him, the contents of which have not been circulated.
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