Ram Jethmalani to defend Arvind Kejriwal in defamation lawsuit by Arun Jaitley

New Delhi: Noted criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani will represent Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the defamation lawsuits filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over AAP's allegations of corruption in Delhi cricket body, which the latter headed for 13 years.

"Ram Jethmalani will appear before court for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal," a senior official of the Chief Minister's office said.

Mr Jaitley today filed civil and criminal defamation cases against Mr Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders for allegedly defaming him, and sought Rs. 10 crores in damages and their prosecution for offences that entails a punishment of up to two years in jail.

Earlier, a defiant Kejriwal asserted that the Aam Aadmi Party will not be scared by defamation suits against him and other AAP leaders by Mr Jaitley and asked him to prove his innocence before the one-man Commission of Inquiry announced by Delhi Government to probe alleged irregularities in the Delhi and District Cricket Association DDCA.

The Chief Minister also slammed BJP for protecting the Finance Minister despite facing charges of alleged irregularities during his tenure as DDCA chief for around 13 years till 2013.

In a series of tweets Mr Kejriwal said, "I would have taken resignation if there were so much evidence against any of my ministers as I had taken the resignation of Jitender Singh Tomar and Asim Khan. BJP is shamelessly defending Mr Jaitley."

He said that by filing defamation case, "Mr Jaitley is trying to hurt himself".

The other AAP leaders mentioned in Mr Jaitley's lawsuit also continued to further attack the Finance Minister.

"Setting aside his ministerial responsibilities, Jaitley ji is making the rounds of the courts. But we won't let the matter get buried this time around. We will continue to hold him corrupt in DDCA affairs," AAP leader Sanjay Singh said.