Ever since he has started apologising for the defamatory statements he has made, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has become a butt of all jokes. In a criminal defamation case filed by a Delhi Police constable for Kejriwal’s remark where he described Delhi Police as ‘thulla’, the Delhi High Court posed a question to Kejriwal whether he will apologise for the same.
Justice Anu Malhotra said that when Kejriwal has been apologising and seeking pardon from others, like Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, why can’t he do the same to police officials and settle the matter? His counsel said he would seek instructions from AAP supremo for this.
The court had earlier stayed the trial court order summoning Kejriwal in the defamation complaint filed by Delhi Police constable, who had sought dismissal of his petition seeking stay and quashing of the trial court order summoning him. In July 2016, Delhi High Court had asked Arvind Kejriwal to explain the meaning of the word ‘thulla’ as it does not appear in the dictionary. Arvind Kejriwal, in an interview with Rajdeep Sardesai, had described Delhi Police personnel as ‘thulla’.
Opposing the Chief Minister’s plea, the constable in his reply, filed through advocate L N Rao, had alleged that Kejriwal had “crossed all limits of decency” by using the insulting word ‘thulla’ for policemen in an interview to a news channel.