Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal has approached the Supreme Court regarding the canceled excise policy of Delhi. He has demanded from the court that the CBI appeal against him should be removed from the present bench of Delhi High Court and transferred to some other bench. Former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has also filed a separate petition in this matter. Both the leaders have also challenged the summons issued by the High Court in the Supreme Court.
This matter again came into discussion when on February 27, the trial court had acquitted Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and 21 other accused of charges in the case related to excise policy. The court had made a strong comment on the CBI charge sheet and said that it could not withstand judicial scrutiny. After this, CBI filed an appeal in Delhi High Court challenging this decision. This case is currently listed before the bench of Justice Swarna Kant Sharma.
What is Kejriwal’s demand in the Supreme Court?
Arvind Kejriwal has said in the petition filed in the Supreme Court that the hearing of CBI’s appeal should be conducted before some other bench. He says that he fears that the case will not be heard in a completely impartial manner in the current bench. Kejriwal said that this demand is not against any particular person, but has been made to maintain fairness in the judicial process.
Read this also- Why are elections being held in two phases in Bengal this time? Election Commission gave this important reason
Were Justice Sharma’s comments questioned?
It has been said in the petition that when the hearing on the CBI petition started, Justice Swarna Kant Sharma had declared the trial court’s decision prima facie wrong at the initial stage itself. Kejriwal says that this comment was made at a time when the arguments of the other side had not been heard yet. This caused him serious apprehension about a fair trial.
Did the same bench hear many decisions related to this case earlier too?
It has also been said in the petition that Justice Sharma has already heard many cases related to this matter. These include petitions against the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal, bail petitions of Aam Aadmi Party leaders and cases related to other accused. Among these, there was also a case related to the poetry of the President of Telangana Jagriti.
Were some orders already given on CBI’s appeal?
On March 9, Justice Sharma’s bench had stayed the trial court’s recommendation that departmental action be taken against the investigating officer. Also, the bench had issued notice to all the 23 accused on the appeal of CBI. The court had said that some of the findings of the trial court prima facie appear to be wrong and their further investigation is necessary.
Other videos-