DDCA to file defamation case against Arvind Kejriwal, Kirti Azad

“A lot has been said in the weeks gone by. We have rebutted their claims point by point and now the chief minister has made serious accusations of selectors asking for sexual favours from cricketers’ mothers. We have to take this into account and the defamation case would be filed after the internal meeting,” DDCA treasurer Ravinder Manchanda said.

Read | DDCA row: Kirti Azad claims SFIO report recommended prosecution of Jaitley

Echoing Manchanda’s views, DDCA director Siddhartha Verma said,”we have reached a principal agreement on this and are seeking legal advice before pressing these charges. Once we get a go-ahead on that front, we would proceed.”

A defamation case was earlier filed against Azad by a cricketer’s father after he alleged that money changed hands with regard to his son’s selection.

There are reports doing rounds of a possible suspension of Azad and Bishan Singh Bedi’s DDCA membership but the association remains unclear whether rules allow them to proceed in the direction. “We are still examining what could be done on the membership front. A decision on that is likely to be taken in the next 2 to 3 days,” Manchanda said.

AAP claim countered

DDCA also countered the allegations of the AAP, which claimed that Arun Jaitley, in his capacity as President of DDCA in 2011, had “pressurised” the then Police Commissioner to “close” an investigation involving a cricket club of Syndicate bank.

Sports Secretary Sunil Dev said that the then President Arun Jaitley had done nothing wrong by writing those letters.

Dev said that Syndicate decided not to field the team in 2005 and one of their employees Bhola Shankar then approached the Bank to take permission if it could field the team. “The Bank granted the permission in November 2005 but hadmade it clear that the team should not have non-employees and it would be treated as a private club,” Dev said, flashing the letter of the Syndicate Bank. “The case was given to the Crime Branch and the DDCA also went through their inquiry. Nothing was found. So, all these allegations are baseless,” he said.