New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday suffered a setback when the Delhi High Court dismissed his plea seeking stay of trial court proceedings court in a criminal defamation case filed by finance minister Arun Jaitley saying, there was no “illegality” in continuing it simultaneously with a civil defamation suit.
The HC said there was “no prejudice” on account of a pending civil suit and there was no “double jeopardy” and as such Kejriwal’s plea was “devoid of merit”.
Kejriwal had contented that proceedings before the trial court should be stayed since a civil suit was pending before the high court.
Jaitley had filed a criminal defamation complaint alleging Kejriwal and five Aam Aadmi Party leaders — Raghav Chadha, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh and Deepak Bajpai--had defamed him in the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) controversy.
The court observed that though Jaitley has initiated two proceedings, “the fact remains that same are distinct and separate cases”.
