Excise policy case: Delhi HC to issue order on amicus curiae on May 11

A bench headed by Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said it was still awaiting consent from certain individuals proposed to represent them and would pass the order on Monday.

The Delhi High Court on Friday said it would pass the order on May 11 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.

The court clarified that the hearing on the merits of the challenge would begin on Tuesday with arguments by the CBI on the petition’s maintainability

A bench headed by Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said it was still awaiting consent from certain individuals proposed to represent them and would pass the order on Monday. “Now we have only three persons 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.

During the hearing, the court clarified that the hearing on the merits of the challenge would begin on Tuesday with arguments by the CBI on the petition’s maintainability. The observation came after the court was informed that former AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair and another individual, Arvind Kumar Singh, filed applications challenging the maintainability of the CBI’s plea. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the agency, submitted that he would first address the issue of maintainability before advancing arguments on the merits.

On February 27, the trial court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and 21 others, holding that the CBI’s material did not even disclose a prima facie case, prompting the agency 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.

Following this, on March 11, Kejriwal sought transfer of the case to another judge, which was rejected 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.

However, 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 also wrote similar letters conveying the same decision. The judge then on May 5 said that she would appoint an amicus to represent the three.