New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who also holds the additional charge of Defence Ministry on Wednesday lost his cool in Delhi High Court when senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani during the former's cross-examination in a defamation case against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called him a "crook".
"He (Arun Jaitley) is a crook and I will show this," Ram Jethmalani said, prompting a strong objection from the finance minister.
Jethmalani also alleged that Jaitley was "deceiving the people by concealing his guilt of crime."
Jaitley has filed the civil defamation suit seeking Rs 10 crore damages from Arvind Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders for accusing him of financial irregularities in the DDCA of which he was the President from 2000 to 2013.
When Jaitley, who appeared before Joint Registrar Deepali Sharma, asked if the slur had been "authorised" for use by Kejrwial, Jethmalani said it had.
"Let the court note that I am doing this with my client's consent," he responded.
To this, Jaitley said if this is so then he could seek "aggravated damages."
"You have led a life of personal malice, everyone knows this," Jaitley went on to add.
As the heated exchange between the two continued, the Joint Registrar objected to it and said the senior lawyer and other advocates were crossing the limit and should allow the court to proceed in the matter.