Can’t compromise justice for speed: Arvind Kejriwal on DDCA case

The plea filed by Kejriwal’s counsel Anupam Shrivastava said Jaitley’s application was barred according to High Court Rules, which allowed an appeal only against the order of the Joint Registrar. Kejriwal and other defendants — the five AAP leaders — never delayed the proceedings, he said. “In the garb of the application, Jaitley was trying to scuttle the cross-examination process,” said the plea. “There were no special circumstances to make such a prayer.”

“The present application (by Jaitley) is misconceived as the present suit is moving at a pace faster than most of the suits pending on the original side of the Delhi HC,” said the plea. The plea said that after the suit was instituted on December 21, 2015, four dates were provided for cross-examination within 18 months. The plea said Kejriwal could not be blamed for the delay as he had “followed strict time frame”.

The plea also denied that the CM had instructed Ram Jethmalani to use objectionable words.