The troubles have just increased manifold for Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal, with the Patiala House Court in Delhi putting him on trial in a case of criminal defamation filed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
The other five AAP leaders who will face trial over allegations of making libellous statements against Jaitley in the Delhi district Cricket Association (DDCA) controversy are Raghav Chadha, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh and Deepak Bajpai. All of them could be jailed for two years if found guilty under Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC.
What motivated the case?
The case pertains to the time Kejriwal and other members of the AAP had alleged that there were financial irregularities when Jaitley was chief of the DDCA, and that he had benefited from them. They had also claimed that there were financial irregularities in the reconstruction of Feroz Shah Kotla Ground by the DDCA.
Jaitley had told reporters at the time of filing the case: "Kejriwal said money had been siphoned off and Jaitley is the beneficiary. It's false." Jaitley had also said that Kejriwal and the others had made libellous comments by claiming that members of his family were involved in the scam.
AAP reacts
Chadha, national spokesperson of the AAP and one of the accused who is facing trial, took to Twitter to claim on Saturday that "death threats" were given to "AAP leaders appearing in Jaitley defamation case, including myself," by "lawyer on the other side."
