Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia then forwarded this letter to the Lieutenant Governor’s (LG) office to be cleared, inviting sharp criticism from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
To have noted lawyer Ram Jethamalani defend you, and that too for free, is nothing short of being a godsend. And Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to enjoy this largesse after the 93-year-old senior advocate declared on Tuesday, that he would waive off his fees if Kejriwal was unable to afford it. Kejriwal is currently fighting a defamation case against Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley..
“Even now if the government doesn’t pay or he (Kejirwal) can’t pay, I will appear free. I will then treat him as one of my poor clients,” said Jethmalani.
Controversy over the payment of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s legal fees quickly escalated overnight. On December 1, 2016, Jethmalani — who is defending the Delhi CM in the civil as well as the criminal defamation matter against Jaitley — addressed a letter to the CM’s secretary and sought settlement of dues amounting to Rs 3.4 crore.
Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia then forwarded this letter to the Lieutenant Governor’s (LG) office to be cleared, inviting sharp criticism from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The saffron party then alleged that Kejriwal and the AAP government were using public money to pay his legal fees.
Hitting out at the Delhi CM, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said, “It is you (Kejriwal) who made the (defamatory) statement, then why should people pay? It is you who should pay.” Javadekar added that the state’s ruling party was “trying to loot the people”.
Concurring with Javadekar’s view, former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee said that if Kejriwal was fighting a legal battle he should pay in his personal capacity and not use public funds. “Ram Jethmalani appeared for Kejriwal. The criminal complaint is against Kejriwal, not against the government. It’s not part of the Chief Minister’s duty to indulge in defamatory articles. So here also, the Chief Minister is not supposed to, as part of his official duty, make defamatory statements. If he has made them, he has made them in his personal capacity.”
In December 2015, Jaitley filed a criminal and civil defamation case against the Delhi CM and five others that included Deepak Bajpai, Ashutosh Bhardwaj, Raghav Chadha, Kumar Vishwas, and Sanjay Singh. The Finance Minister filed the case after the CM had alleged in a press conference that Jaitley — who headed the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) for 13 years — had profited from his alleged relationship with a firm called 21st Century Media Private Limited, a sports management firm.
Since then, both parties have been ably defended by a battery of lawyers at the hearings in the trial court at Patiala House (criminal case) and the High Court (civil case). Apart from Jethmalani, Senior Advocate HS Phoolka also represented Kejriwal at one point during the proceedings. Jaitley has roped in Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra and Manik Dogra for his defence.
While Javadekar claimed Jaitley has settled his fees from his personal account, several lawyers from the Kejriwal camp confessed that all the work done so far for Jaitley was pro bono in this matter.
Reacting to this Javadekar said, “He is the Finance Minister of the country. But he is not misusing his office. This is a personal matter and he is dealing with it personally. That is the difference between an honest government and one that is just fooling the people.” In response to Javadekar’s charges, Jethmalani quipped, “This issue has come up because Jaitley is scared of my cross-examination.”
Senior Standing Counsel for the Delhi government Rahul Mehra also questioned Jaitley’s motives for highlighting the matter of Kejriwal’s legal fees. “Why is Jaitley tom-tomming the issue? He sued Kejriwal because he was the CM. During his cross-examination on March 6-7, 2017, he (Jaitley) stated as much that had Kejriwal been an ordinary person, he would’ve ignored his comments. Hence, the CM is justified in using the government’s money to pay for the legal fees,” Mehra said.
Rishikesh Kumar, the chief minister’s counsel also clarified that there was no conflict of interest in him representing Kejriwal. “I have been representing Kejriwal for the past five-six years. I did not think twice before taking up his case again,” he said. “Despite being an Additional Standing Counsel for Delhi, I can take on any client as long as I am pitted against the state,” Kumar said.
Such statements have only ensured that this issue is far from over. On Tuesday, expressing his anger over the alleged misuse of taxpayer money, BJPs leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijendra Gupta said he would meet LG Anil Baijal on Wednesday to discuss the issue.
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