DDCA defamation case: Jethmalani quits Kejriwal's case, says 'he lied about not giving instructions to me'

Jethmalani quits as Keriwal's lawyer after his statement in HC/ All images: PTI

New Delhi: Senior Lawyer Ramjethmalani, who had been handling defamation case against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, which was filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitlety over DDCA case; has withdrawn from the case and has sought a fee of Rs 2 crore from Kejriwal. This comes days after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today told the Delhi High Court that there was no instruction from him to his counsel Ram Jethmalani to use objectionable remarks against Arun Jaitley. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief also said that he has written a letter to Jethmalani to refute his claim that objectionable words were used in the proceedings before the Joint Registrar on May 17 as per his instructions. In his affidavit, Kejriwal said it was "inconceivable that he would even think of instructing the senior counsel to use such objectionable words." The Chief Minister denied the charge of Jaitley that the questions with derogatory remarks were "clearly designed to insult and/or annoy" him. Kejriwal said that he has even instructed his counsel on record, Anupam Srivastava, to remind Jethmalani that no such instructions were issued to him in his meeting with him. Jethmalani, during the May 17 proceedings, had claimed that the words were used by him in pursuance to instructions received from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo. Jethmalani had earlier said that he would not mind fighting a case for Kejriwal for free, for he wants to ‘expose’ Jaitley. This statement came after several questions were raised against Kejriwal as to how would he pay hefty fee that Jethmalani charges for fighting cases. Months after making the statement, Jethmalani’s refusal to fight the case any further has come as a shocker for the Chief Minister.