The high court will hear former cm Arvind Kejriwal's petition against the lower court's order to take cognizance of the ED's chargesheet in the delhi Excise Policy case on january 30, 2025. Judge Manoj Kumar Ohri was informed by the ED's counsel that Additional Advocate General S.V. Raju was to present arguments on Friday, but he was not available today. The court has fixed the next hearing of the case on january 30 on the request of Kejriwal's lawyer, while earlier it was listed for february 19, 2025.
Opposing the ED's request for adjournment, Kejriwal's lawyer said, "Here is a person whose elections are to be held in january and he is waiting endlessly for the other side to argue the matter." The court has also fixed a similar petition of aam aadmi party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia for hearing on january 30, 2025.
Will file affidavit
Both kejriwal and Sisodia have requested to quash the lower court's order and argued that the lower court took cognizance of the chargesheet in the absence of sanction to prosecute them, which is mandatory in law, as they were public servants at the time of the alleged crime. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, however, said that sanction has been obtained to prosecute kejriwal and he will file an affidavit. The ED has filed its reply to Kejriwal's petition.
'Wrong in the eyes of law'
Apart from requesting to quash the lower court's July 9 order to take cognizance of the chargesheet, kejriwal also appealed to cancel all proceedings in the case. The petition said that prosecuting kejriwal is wrong in the eyes of law, as it does not have the mandatory sanction under Section 197 of the CrPC, while the allegations are related to official acts performed by him.
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