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Jethmalani denies maligning Jessica Lal
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November 17, 2006 13:39 IST
Noted criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani has denied that he had deliberately maligned Jessica Lal's [Images] character and resorted to falsehood to defend prime accused Manu Sharma in the murder case.

Justifying his move to defend Manu Sharma by targeting Jessica and witness Bina Ramani, he refused to accept that he knowingly lied and told falsehoods to defend the accused.

At one stage during an interview to Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN's 'Devil's Advocate' programme, Jethmalani became visibly angry at persistent questioning and initially refused to answer queries besides threatening to walk out of the show.

"You can go on talking bullshit and continue the bullshit. I am totally impervious... repeated bullshit doesn't become wisdom," Jethmalani told Thapar, according to a release issued by the channel.

Asked about Mahatma Gandhi's [Images] philosophy that means are more important than the end and whether he was claiming that in law it was the other way round, Jethmalani said, "I am doing much better than Mahatma Gandhi in this case. I assure you."

On Jessica, the former Union Law Minister said, "In the first place, I have not made any accusations against her character... You can go on repeating it a hundred times if you like. I have cast no aspersions on her character. On the contrary, I have given her some character. I hope she deserves it."

Admitting that he had earlier fought a case for Bina Ramani with regard to the custody of her children, Jethmalani denied that he had charged the key prosecution witness with resorting to falsehood in the Jessica Lal murder case.

"All that I have said is that the poor woman was pressurised by the police to speak some lies to please them and get out of the trouble they were creating for her and in court she had the conscience to stand up and not stick to those lies," he added.


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