Delhi High Court Grants Time to Arvind Kejriwal, Others to Respond to CBI Plea in Excise Policy Case

The Delhi High Court on Monday granted time to former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other accused in the Delhi excise policy case to file their responses to a petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation challenging their acquittal by a trial court.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma directed that the matter be listed for further hearing on April 6 after noting that replies from the accused had not yet been filed.

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Central Bureau of Investigation, informed the court that copies of the petition had already been served on all the accused persons and that notices had also been duly delivered.

Despite this, the court noted that no formal response had yet been filed by the accused.

Advocate N Hariharan, appearing for Kejriwal, told the court that a petition had been filed before the Supreme Court seeking that the case be listed before another bench. He indicated that the proceedings before the High Court should be considered in light of that request.

However, Mehta opposed the suggestion that the High Court proceedings should be delayed on that basis. He argued that the filing of a petition before the Supreme Court could not be treated as a ground for postponing the hearing in the High Court.

Hariharan responded that he had no control over the functioning of the Supreme Court registry and could not determine when the matter would be listed there.

At one point during the hearing, Mehta argued that there was no need to wait for a reply from the accused because the order passed by the trial court was extraordinary and required immediate scrutiny.

The bench, however, stated that the accused must be given an opportunity to file their responses before the court proceeds further.

“Let them file a reply,” the court observed during the proceedings.

Hariharan also argued that the trial court’s order had not gone in favour of the investigating agency and that the CBI considered it to be incorrect.

After hearing the submissions of the parties, the High Court granted time to the accused to file their replies and listed the matter for April 6.

Earlier, on March 9, the High Court had issued notices to all the accused persons, including Kejriwal, in the CBI’s petition challenging the trial court’s decision.

At the same time, the High Court stayed certain adverse observations made by the trial court against the CBI in its judgment. It also directed the trial court not to proceed further with the money laundering case connected to the Delhi excise policy matter while the High Court considered the challenge.

The controversy stems from an order passed by the Rouse Avenue Court on February 27, which acquitted all the accused in the case.

While delivering its decision, the trial court observed that the chargesheet filed in the case contained several contradictions and inconsistencies.

According to the trial court, the facts set out in the thousands of pages of the chargesheet did not correspond with the statements given by witnesses during the course of the investigation.

The trial court also took note of the period of custody undergone by some of the accused persons during the course of the case.

It observed that former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had spent approximately 530 days in jail in connection with the matter.

Similarly, Kejriwal had spent around 156 days in jail in two separate periods of custody before he was granted bail by the Supreme Court on September 13, 2024.

Following the acquittal order, the Central Bureau of Investigation approached the Delhi High Court challenging the trial court’s findings and seeking a review of the decision.

The High Court will now examine the CBI’s challenge after receiving replies from Kejriwal and the other accused when the matter comes up for hearing on April 6.

Case Title: Central Bureau of Investigation v. Arvind Kejriwal & Ors.

Source: TOI