Senior Supreme Court lawyer, Ram Jethmalani, has accused Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, of using words far worse than ‘crook’ for Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

In an explosive letter that Jethmalani said he had written to Kejriwal, the veteran lawyer said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief “used worse abuses” than ‘crook’ for the Union Finance Minister.

He posted a copy of that letter on his blog on Friday.

Jethmalani, who had recently resigned as Kejriwal’s lawyer in Rs 10 crore defamation case by Jaitley, said that he had instructed him to use derogatory words against the latter.

He wrote, “When Arun Jaitley filed the first suit and criminal case, you naturally sought my services. Ask your (Kejriwal) conscience how many times you used worse abuses than a mere ‘crook’. You have hundred times asked me to teach this crook a lesson.”

On July 26, Jethmalani announced that he had quit as the counsel of Kejriwal in the civil defamation suits filed by Jaitley adding that the AAP chief was blatantly lying to him.

Jethmalani told ANI, “The reason behind it is he (Kejriwal) has spoken a lie. He has gone and said that I have not given any instructions, but fact is he did and I have them recorded. I’m not disappointed at all; I did all that I could do. If he does not pay me I don’t mind, because I have fought for many for free. It does not make a difference if I lose one”.

In May, while cross-examining Jaitley, Jethmalani had referred to the the union minister as a crook making him incredibly angry. Jaitley had later asked if Jethmalani had been instructed to call him crook by his client, Kejriwal.

Kejriwal later filed an affidavit in the High Court Jaitley clarifying that he had never instructed his lawyer to address Jaitley as crook. An angry Jethmalani had then gone public contradicting Kejriwal while also announcing his decision to quit Kejriwal’s case.

In December 2015, Jaitley had filed a civil defamation suit against Kejriwal and AAP leaders Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha and Deepak Bajpayee, claiming that they made “false and defamatory” statements in the case involving the DDCA, thereby harming his reputation.

A fresh Rs 10 crore defamation suit was also filed by Jaitley against Kejriwal over his lawyer Jethmalani using the word “crook” during cross-examination of the previous defamation suit.

Jaitley, in the second civil defamation suit against Kejriwal, claimed the objectionable words caused him “permanent harm and disrepute”.