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AAP questions BJP remarks on Delhi excise case verdict, alleges attempt to influence perception
Saurabh Bharadwaj asks how BJP leaders can predict outcome when Delhi HC hearing is pending.
The Aam Aadmi Party questioned remarks made by leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party regarding the outcome of the Delhi excise policy case, asking how they could predict the verdict when the matter is yet to be heard by the Delhi high court.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj said statements made by Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva and Delhi minister Kapil Mishra raised questions.
Bharadwaj said Sachdeva had claimed that AAP leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Durgesh Pathak, would eventually face punishment as the case progressed. He also referred to a social media post by Mishra that said “the picture is not over yet”.
“If the matter is yet to be heard in the high court, how do BJP leaders know what the outcome will be? How can they say that punishment is certain?” Bharadwaj said. He said the appeal in the excise policy case is expected to come up before the Delhi High Court and questioned whether political leaders were attempting to suggest that they could influence the outcome.
“Is there some relationship between BJP leaders and the judge? Are they suggesting that they can get the verdict they want?” he asked. Bharadwaj also referred to past events linked to the 2020 Delhi riots while criticising Mishra. He said Mishra had earlier been accused of making inflammatory statements before the violence.
According to Bharadwaj, during hearings related to hate speech allegations, Justice S. Muralidhar had directed the police to consider registering FIRs against certain political leaders. He claimed that the judge was transferred shortly afterward, following which the matter came up before another bench headed by Justice D. N. Patel.
Bharadwaj said comments such as “the picture is not over yet”, therefore raise questions about how political leaders could claim to know the direction of ongoing legal proceedings. The BJP has not yet responded publicly to Bharadwaj’s remarks.
The Delhi excise policy case has been the subject of intense political exchanges between the AAP and the BJP over the past several months, with both sides accusing each other of misleading the public about the legal process.
