New Delhi:
Aam Aadmi Party chief and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has gone to the Supreme Court and challenged a High Court freeze on the remarks against the Central Bureau of Investigation.
In his petition under Article 32 of the Constitution alleging violation of his fundamental rights, Kejriwal has also challenged the order by the Chief Justice of the High Court, rejecting his request for a change in the bench.
On Monday, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma is expected to hear the CBI’s petition challenging the release of Kejriwal, his former Deputy Manish Sisodia and a few others accused in the excise policy case.
On March 11, the group, led by Kejriwal, appealed to Chief Justice Upadhyaya asking that the case be assigned to another “impartial” judge. In the representation, Kejriwal claimed he has a “grave, bona fide, and reasonable apprehension” that the hearing in the matter would not be impartial and neutral.
He has also challenged Justice Sharma’s order of March 9, in which she put on hold a trial court direction to investigate the CBI officer who investigated the excise policy case.
The High Court, in the same order, had also directed the trial court to defer the proceedings in the case involving the anti-money laundering case.
Justice Sharma had also rejected that some of the trial court’s observations while discharging Kejriwal and 22 others were erroneous.
Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya has already denied Arvind Kejriwal’s request to transfer the excise policy case from Justice Sharma.
On March 13, a communication to this effect was sent by the High Court’s Registrar General to eight people, including Kejriwal, who had sought the transfer.
“The petition is assigned to the Hon’ble judge as per the current roster. Any call of recusal has to be taken by the Hon’ble judge. I, however, do not find any reason to transfer the petition by passing an order on the administrative side,” read the letter quoting Chief Justice Upadhyaya.
