Delhi High Court Denies Request to Halt Trial for Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi Excise Policy Case.
The Delhi High Court today decided not to pause the trial against former Delhi chief minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, who is facing charges related to the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22. Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri requested a response from the Enforcement Directorate regarding Kejriwal’s appeal against a trial court’s decision that acknowledged a chargesheet in the case. The hearing is scheduled for December 20. Kejriwal is asking to overturn the trial court’s order, claiming that the special court accepted the chargesheet without proper authorization for his prosecution since he was a public servant at the time of the alleged crime.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the ED, stated that the necessary authorization to prosecute Kejriwal was obtained and that he would submit an affidavit. Kejriwal requested an earlier hearing date when the court initially set it for next year, and his lawyer urged the court to issue a stay on the trial proceedings due to urgency. Mehta argued that this request was unfair and sought to respond to the stay application. On November 12, the High Court asked the ED to respond to another request from Kejriwal, who challenged the summons issued to him in the money laundering case. The High Court has currently declined to halt the trial court proceedings in the criminal case.
Kejriwal was granted temporary bail by the Supreme Court on July 12 in the money laundering case and was released on bail in the CBI case on September 13. The CBI and the ED allege that irregularities occurred during changes to the excise policy, benefiting certain license holders. The Delhi government started the policy on November 17, 2021, but ended it by the end of September 2022 due to corruption claims. The money laundering case is linked to a CBI investigation that began after Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena suggested looking into the suspected issues with the excise policy’s execution.
