New Delhi, August 17: The Delhi High Court has granted former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, and others four weeks to respond to the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) petition. This petition challenges the dismissal of charges against them in an alleged excise policy corruption case.
Justice Manoj Jain, while setting the deadline for responses, scheduled the next hearing for October 5 and 6. He emphasized that all arguments would be heard on those dates, and no further adjournments would be allowed.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, criticized the request for more time from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, labeling it as childish.
In his petition, Sisodia argued that the CBI filed its plea just four hours after the lower court’s decision, without adequate consideration. He pointed out that the petition failed to specify which evidence against which accused was overlooked.
On February 27, the lower court acquitted all accused in the CBI’s corruption case, delivering a judgment exceeding 1,100 paragraphs.
In its review petition at the High Court, the CBI alleged that the excise policy implemented by the then AAP-led Delhi government was manipulated to benefit select liquor traders in exchange for bribes.
This case was transferred from Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma’s bench to Justice Jain due to allegations of “derogatory and defamatory” material circulated against the judiciary by Kejriwal, Sisodia, and other AAP leaders, prompting criminal contempt proceedings against them.
On August 4, the High Court postponed the hearing of these contempt proceedings against Kejriwal, Sisodia, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, and other party leaders until September 21, following the court’s own cognizance of the alleged attempts to malign the judiciary regarding the excise policy case.
The bench, led by Justices Naveen Chawla and Ravinder Dudejia, directed the registry to provide the material forming the basis of the contempt reference to the defendants in digital format. This directive came after senior lawyers representing Kejriwal and other AAP leaders reported that they had not received the relevant documents.
The bench, presided over by Justice Chawla, also granted the accused in the contempt case four weeks to submit their responses. The next hearing is scheduled for September 21.
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