Delhi HC dismisses AAP leader’s plea in civil defamation case
Deepak Bajpai's legal counsel H.S. Phoolka contended that there were 'no specific averments against him' for making out a case of defamation
New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Monday dismissed an application by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spokesperson Deepak Bajpai seeking the quashing of a civil defamation suit filed by finance minister Arun Jaitley against him.
Bajpai’s legal counsel H.S. Phoolka contended that there were “no specific averments against him" for making out a case of defamation and therefore the case should be dropped.
“Wherever all the defendants have been collectively mentioned for making defamatory statements, that on its own cannot constitute a case of defamation against Bajpai for the lack of specific defamatory statements made by him." Phoolka told justice Vipin Sanghi, who was hearing the matter.
This was opposed by Rajiv Nayyar, the lawyer appearing for Jaitley, who stated that there had been instances where Bajpai was present when references to the minister being directly or indirectly involved in irregularities in the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) were made.
A reference to Bajpai’s Twitter handle, which carried allegedly defamatory statements against Jaitley, was also made to show he had attacked the finance minister for his role in alleged mismanagement of funds at the DDCA during his tenure as its president.
Jaitley has sued AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and five other AAP members, namely Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha and Deepak Bajpai for making allegations against him over financial mismanagement at the DDCA.
The finance minister has sought a compensation of ₹ 10 crore from them for the comments made against him and his family members.
The minister, who was the president of the DDCA till 2013, has also filed a criminal complaint in the matter.
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