Arvind Kejriwal On Apology Spree To End Legal Mess. Arun Jaitley On List

New Delhi:  Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, which has accumulated over 20 defamation cases filed against its leaders has decided to start resolving them. It will apologise, an AAP leader told NDTV after Chief Minister Kejriwal retracted his allegations against former Punjab Cabinet Minister Bikram Singh Majithia whom he had accused last year of being part of the drug trade in Punjab.

"Now I've learnt that allegations are unfounded... I hereby withdraw all my statements and allegations made against you and apologise," Mr Kejriwal says in the offer of regret furnished in the court.

Sources told NDTV that the chief minister is also considering reaching out to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who had sued Mr Kejriwal for accusing him of corruption during his 13-year tenure as the head of the main cricket administration body for Delhi.
 This is going to be the template on which the party would deal with all cases filed against its leaders.

Sources said the AAP had come around to the point that fighting the legal battles was "exhausting and taking too much time" and the party leaders want to focus on the work on hand in Delhi.

Last August, Mr Kejriwal had also apologised to BJP leader from Haryana Avtar Singh Bhadana to end a bitterly-fought defamation suit. Mr Bhadana had been called corrupt by the AAP leader back in 2014.

In the run-up to last year's Punjab Assembly elections, Mr Kejriwal had accused the Parkash Singh Badal government of patronising drug mafia and criminals. Mr Majithia, the Revenue Minister in the Akali Dal government, was at the centre of his attacks and had been called a "drug lord".

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At one public meeting, Mr Kejriwal promised his audience that he would "drag" the Akali Dal leader "by his collar" to jail once he comes to power.

Mr Majithia had promptly responded with a defamation case against the Delhi Chief Minister and two AAP leaders, Sanjay Singh and Ashish Khetan.