Plea against AAP govt’s payment of Ram Jethamalani’s fees dismissed by Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court today refused to entertain a petition that sought to restrain the Delhi Government from paying the legal fees of Senior Advocate Ram Jethmalani for appearing on behalf of Arvind Kejriwal in the defamation case filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley..Ram Jethmalani had reportedly sent Arvind Kejriwal bills amounting to Rs 3.4 crore for representing him in the case..It had also been reported that Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had signed off on the bills and forwarded them to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal for clearance..The petitioner, advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, withdrew the petition sensing the mood of the court. Senior Standing Counsel Rahul Mehra appeared on behalf of the Delhi government..The petition also sought the formulation and implementation of stringent rules and regulations to restrain government departments from making any payment from the public exchequer towards any private litigation cost incurred by public officials in their private capacities..The bench of acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra dismissed the petition, stating that the Lieutenant Governor is already seized of the issue and there is no need of interference by this court. The bench said,.“If the authorities concerned are not taking any action against the issue raised by you, then only you can move the court.”.Justice Mittal, who was visibly distraught, called the petition “a waste of time.”.Following the controversy, Ram Jethmalani had earlier offered to fight the case for Arvind Kejriwal for free. He was quoted as saying,.“I charge only the rich, but for the poor I work for free. If the Delhi (government) doesn’t pay or he (Kejriwal) cannot pay, I will appear for free.”.He also said that he was not aware of the fact that his fees was being paid through the Delhi Government, and further stated,.“Everyone knows that I charge Rs.1 Crore as retainership and Rs. 22 Lakhs per appearance.”.Hitting out at Jaitley, Jethmalani said that this controversy had been instigated by the Finance Minister, who was “afraid” of facing his cross-questioning..The Delhi government had also defended bearing the legal expenses of the defamation case, stating that it was a public issue and not a private one..“There were allegations of corruption in DDCA. Our government formed a committee to probe this and free cricket from corruption,” Manish Sisodia was quoted as saying.