India TV Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday brought to an end the sordid affair of two civil defamation cases filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after the latter and his associates offered unqualified apology for levelling baseless and false charges of corruption against the former. Kejriwal has apologized to Jaitley and his family members for accusing the Union Minister of corruption during his 13-year stint at Delhi and District Cricket Association.
Simultaneously, a trial court in Delhi accepted Kejriwal's apology to Jaitley and disposed of the criminal defamation case. I want to mention here that when Arun Jaitley filed the defamation cases against Kejriwal, I appeared as witness number one in support of Jaitley. In my heart of hearts, I was convinced that the slanders and accusations levelled by Kejriwal against Jaitley were baseless and false, and it was a blatant act of defamation.
I know Arun Jaitley for the last 44 years. To allege that he promoted corruption while helming the affairs of DDCA, was a great injustice to an honest man. It was my firm conviction that I should stand in court to defend a person, honest to the core. I had then felt that if I did not publicly defend an honest person, I would never be able to forgive myself.
Today I am contented that my conviction has been proved true. Kejriwal offered apologies again and again, clearly and succinctly, to Jaitley in court. The court also accepted his apologies. Arun Jaitley came out of this entire slanderous drama, unblemished and untainted. I hope this legal case will give support to all those who are honest and are working tirelessly in politics. I also hope that this would act as a deterrence to mischief mongers and liars, who try to tarnish the image of others without any shred of solid evidence.
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