The Delhi High Court on Friday said it will issue an order on Monday appointing three senior lawyers as amicus curiae to represent former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Durgesh Pathak in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) appeal challenging their discharge in the tax policy case, after they decided to boycott the proceedings.
A bench headed by Justice Suwarana Kanta Sharma said it was still waiting for some individuals to agree to represent them and would issue the order on Monday.
“Now we have only three people not present. I am waiting for the approval of some people who will appear. So we will list it on Monday and by Monday we will have an amicus,” the judge said.
On February 27, the court released Kejriwal, Sisodia and 21 others, holding that the CBI materials did not even reveal a prima facie case, prompting the agency to challenge the order in the Supreme Court.
On March 9, Justice Sharma stayed the trial court’s directions for taking administrative action against a CBI officer, terming the statements as prima facie wrong, and adjourned the ED’s proceedings.
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On March 11, Kejriwal requested that the case be transferred to another judge, but the request was denied on March 13. He and Sisodia and four others then filed an application with the judge asking her to recuse herself. On April 20, the judge denied the requests, saying there was “no clear reason” to step aside, and warning that stepping aside due to perceived bias would set a troubling precedent.
However, a week after the April 20 judgment, when the court began hearing the CBI’s arguments on the merits, Kejriwal wrote a letter to Justice Sharma saying that neither he nor his counsel would appear in the matter. Subsequently, Sisodia and after him Durgesh Pathak also wrote similar letters conveying the same decision. However, on May 5, the judge said she would appoint an amicus to represent them on Friday.
During the hearing, the court made it clear that the hearing on merits will begin on Tuesday with the CBI’s arguments on the viability of the petition. The observation came after the court was informed that former AAP communications officer Vijay Nair and another person, Arvind Kumar Singh, had filed applications challenging the continuance of the CBI’s recognition. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the agency, emphasized that he would first address the issue of maintainability before making arguments on the merits.
“Defendants 15 (Arvind Kumar Singh) and 3 (Vijay Nair) have filed applications challenging the maintainability of the petition. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta says the arguments will be heard on the same day on which he will take up the arguments on the petition, and in the opinion of this court, we will start with the point of maintainability, when he will open his arguments. So we can keep it on Monday and Tuesday, but we will not start the arguments and the arguments will begin on Tuesday,” Justice Sharma said.
