Delhi HC to rule on amicus curiae for Kejriwal excise case

The Delhi High Court on Friday said it will pass an order on Monday regarding the appointment of three senior advocates as amicus curiae to represent former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, and AAP leader Durgesh Pathak in the CBI’s appeal challenging their discharge in the excise policy case, after they decided to boycott the proceedings.

A bench headed by Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said it was still awaiting consent from certain individuals to represent them and would list it on Monday. “Now we have only three people who are not present. I am awaiting consent of some persons who will be representing. So we will list it on Monday and by Monday we will have an amicus,” the judge said.

On February 27, the trial court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and 21 others, prompting the CBI to challenge the order before the high court. On March 9, Justice Sharma stayed the trial court’s direction for departmental action against a CBI officer, calling the remarks prima facie misconceived, and deferred ED proceedings.

Kejiwal had earlier sought transfer of the case to another judge, which was refused on March 13. He, along with Sisodia and four others, then moved an application before the judge seeking her recusal. On April 20, the judge dismissed the applications, holding there was no “demonstrable cause” for recusal and warning that stepping aside on perceived bias would set a disturbing precedent. A week after the April 20 verdict, when the court was to commence hearing CBI’s arguments on merits, Kejriwal wrote a letter to Justice Sharma saying that neither he nor his counsel would appear in the matter. Following this, Sisodia and subsequently Durgesh Pathak faced similar concerns as the court prepared to consider the amicus arrangement.

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