File photo of Ram Jethmalani
Ram Jethmalani, who was expelled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in May, has withdrawn a defamation suit that he filed earlier this month against members of the party's top decision-making body.
In his suit, Mr Jethmalani sought damages of 50 lakhs from nine of the 11 members of the BJP's Parliamentary Board; he excluded former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the current prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. He said the decision to expel him was arbitrary, that the Parliamentary Board does not have the authority to expel him, and that the language used in the letter that informed him of his expulsion tarnished his image.
Mr Jethmalani was not available for comment today. He filed his suit in the Delhi High Court last month and withdrew it last week, citing errors that needed correction.
Sources in the BJP say the party is trying to persuade him to drop his case.
The 80-year-old lawyer and Rajya Sabha member was expelled for six years after he clashed with the party on a series of fronts. He accused the BJP of going soft on the ruling coalition on corruption. He also openly campaigned against a second term as president for Nitin Gadkari, who was engulfed last year in a series of corruption charges linked to his vast business empire, Purti.
The allegations against Mr Gadkari led to Rajnath Singh taking over as BJP president.