Statements against Jaitley based on CM’s information: Vishwas

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kumar Vishwas, facing a defamation case for his statement against Union Minister Arun Jaitley, informed the Delhi High Court that his statement was based on information received as a worker from Arvind Kejriwal.

‘Did CM lie?’

Mr. Vishwas, who was present in court, said he wanted to know whether Mr. Kejriwal had lied before he apologised to Jaitley or whether the reason for his apology amounted to a lie.

Advocate Manik Dogra, appearing for Mr. Jaitley, refused to accept the stand of Mr. Vishwas that he towed the line of his party leader, saying that he too had in the past claimed to have seen documents while making the allegations. “He cannot now say he was parroting what the others said,” Mr. Dogra said, adding that Mr. Vishwas too must apologise unequivocally like the rest.

Mr. Vishwas is the only one against whom the defamation suit remains after Mr. Kejriwal and four other AAP leaders — Raghav Chadha, Sanjay Singh, Ashutosh and Deepak Bajpai — tendered unequivocal apology to Jaitley in a ₹10 crore defamation suit filed against them by the Finance Minister.

The dissident AAP leader said that Mr. Kejriwal and others decided to apologise without including him in the decision-making process.

He also that his queries to them, subsequent to their apology, have remained unanswered. The court listed the case for further hearing on May 28.