AAP's Vishwas apologises to Jaitley, defamation suit disposed off

New Delhi, May 28 (IANS) As dissident Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kumar Vishwas apologised to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the Delhi High Court on Monday disposed off a defamation suit filed by the latter against Vishwas as withdrawn.

Vishwas tendered a written apology to Jaitley and his family for causing any harm to their reputation.

In his letter, Vishwas said that the remarks made by him and other party leaders against Jaitley were based on information shared by their leader and Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, who is the Chief Minister of Delhi.

"Arvind used to show us papers saying he had collected the same as proof against various leaders. Like any other party workers, we trusted him.

"When a leader takes a stand after a public statement, the workers repeat his words. We too, without questioning, trusted our leader's illogical words," reads Vishwas's letter.

Jaitley's counsel told Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw that his client had accepted Vishwas's apology and wanted to withdraw the case, which the court allowed.

On April 3, the High Court had accepted a joint application made by Chief Minister Kejriwal and AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Ashutosh, Deepak Bajpai, and Raghav Chadha to seek withdrawal of a civil defamation case filed by Jaitley against them.

Kejriwal and other AAP leaders also apologised to Jaitley and his family for levelling charges of corruption that they claimed occurred during Jaitley's 13-year stint at the Delhi and District Cricket Association. 

Jaitley had, however, continued with the proceedings against Kumar Vishwas as he had not tendered the apology.

Vishwas, earlier this month, told the High Court that his statements against Jaitley were based on information from top party leaders and had sought more time in the matter.