Kejriwal's apology to Jaitley in defamation cases; top 10 developments

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and senior Aam Aadmi Party leaders Sanjay Singh, Ashutosh and Raghav Chadha on Monday apologised to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for their allegations that the BJP leader had been involved in corruption when he served as the Delhi & Distict Cricket Association chief. The case is currently sub judice in the Patiala House court.

Arun Jaitley, Arvind Kejriwal have settled two defamation litigations after the AAP convenor apologised, according to PTI.

Here are top 10 developments around Kejriwal's defamation cases:

1. Kejriwal and company apologise to Jaitley

Besides Arvind Kejriwal, AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Ashutosh and Raghav Chadha too wrote similar letters to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to apologise for their defamatory statements.

2. Misinformed allegations

The letters conceded that the allegations they made against Jaitley were based on ''unwarranted and unfounded'' information. They claimed that certain people having first-hand insight into the workings of the DDCA had convinced them such that they made 'misinformed allegations'.

3. Don't approve of Ram Jethmalani's statement

Interestingly, Kejriwal washed his hands off the statements that senior advocate Ram Jethmalani had made against Jaitley while representing the Delhi Chief Minister in the case. Kejriwal writes that he did not approve of the 'disparaging' and 'malicious' statements made by Jethmalani and they weren't made on his behalf.

4. Sorry to your family members

Kejriwal's letter stated that he is sorry if his allegations hurt his family members. He said that he 'unequivocally' withdraws all allegations made on electronic and print media.

5. Let's serve the country's people

Ending the letter on a sentimental note, Kejriwal appealed that the Jaitley should stop the ''unsavoury litigations'' and "serve the country to the best of our abilities''.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, AAP leaders Sanjay Singh,Ashutosh and Raghav Chadha apologize to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the defamation case he had filed against them pic.twitter.com/CJFqxVD738

— ANI (@ANI) April 2, 2018

6. Apology to Majithia was the first of many

Kejriwal on March 13 issued an apology to Majithia for having levelled "unfounded" allegations related to drugs trade, saying that now he has learnt that the drug trade allegations were unfounded.

"In the recent past I made certain statements and allegations against you regarding your alleged involvement in drug trade. These statements became a political issue. Now, I've learnt that allegations are unfounded. Hence, there should be no politics on such issues," Kejriwal said in a statement.

7. Apologies to Sibal, Gadkari

Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia wrote to Kapil Sibal and his son Amit, seeking apology for making "unfounded" allegation against them at a joint press conference on May 15, 2013. In identical letters, they wrote, ''I have nothing personal against you. I regret the same. Let us put the incident behind us and bring the court proceedings to a closure. Now, I have learnt that the allegation I made against you and your father at the press conference were unfounded. I hereby withdraw all my allegations made against you and your father and apologize for the same."

In a March 16 letter to Gadkari, Kejriwal said he was feeling sorry for making "certain statements, without regard to its verifiability, which seem to have hurt you."

8. AAP leaders miffed by apology

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's apology to a SAD leader for accusing him of drugs trade pushed the party's Punjab unit into a crisis as the state leadership contemplated breaking away and forming a separate unit, saying the "meek surrender" was painful and very unfortunate.

Kejriwal's apology to former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia triggered an upheaval in the state unit as AAP's Punjab unit president and co-president Bhagwant Mann and Aman Arora resigned their posts.

9. Apology part of AAP's legal strategy:

While the party's Punjab leaders spoke out against the move, AAP's Delhi unit said that Kejriwal was facing dozens of criminal and civil cases related to defamation, violation of Section 144, putting hoardings and posters up during election campaigns, and public protests, among other things, in Delhi and other parts of India like Varanasi, Amethi, Punjab, Assam, Maharashtra, and Goa.

Saurabh Bharadwaj, the spokesperson of AAP's Delhi unit, explained the rationale behind the move. Bharadwaj said that AAP leaders were facing cases "foisted by our political rivals to de-motivate us and keep our leadership busy in these legal matters". He added that most of these cases required personal appearance in court and that the decision to "amicably sort out" all such legal cases was a strategy "devised by the legal team of the party".

10. Kumar Vishwas' poetic dig at Arvind Kejriwal

Senior AAP leader Kumar Vishwas launched a veiled attack on Kejriwal over his apologies to Majithia, Sibal and Gadkari.

"Expert in dividing unity, expert at chopping off his own roots, why spit on the person who is himself ready to spit and take it back," Vishwas said in a tweet in Hindi.