Second defamation suit by Arun Jaitley: HC imposes cost of Rs 10,000 on Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on Arvind Kejriwal after he failed to file his response on a fresh Rs 10 crore defamation suit filed by Union minister Arun Jaitley over use of an objectionable word allegedly by the CM's lawyer.

Joint Registrar Pankaj Gupta directed the chief minister to deposit the fine amount while granting him two more weeks to file his response.

The high court had on May 23 sought response of Kejriwal on why defamation proceedings should not be initiated against him.

However, Kejriwal's counsel Rishikesh Kumar submitted in the court that they need more time to file their response which was opposed by advocate Manik Dogra, counsel for the Union Minister.

Jaitley, who holds twin portfolios of Finance and Defence, had filed the second defamation suit after Kejriwal's lawyer Ram Jethmalani allegedly "abused" him in open court during proceedings of another defamation suit he had filed against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and five other party functionaries.

During the cross-examination of the Union minister on May 17 before the Joint Registrar in the Delhi High Court, Jethmalani had allegedly used a term Jaitley had found objectionable.

A day after, another high court judge, who was hearing a connected matter, had termed as "scandalous" the remarks allegedly made by Jethmalani against Jaitley before the Joint Registrar.