Delhi Excise Policy: Court Reserves Orders on Arvind Kejriwal’s Plea Seeking to Increase Legal Meetings

Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court on Friday reserved order in an application filed by CM Arvind Kejriwal seeking an increase in the number of legal meetings with his lawyers from two to five times per week.

Kejriwal argued that due to facing multiple FIRs in various states, substantial legal work demands necessitate the need for more frequent meetings.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, noting the submissions, scheduled the passing of the order for April 9, 2024.

Responding to the plea, Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain represented the respondents, opposing the application. They cited the Jail Manual, which stipulates only one legal meeting per week, with the possibility of two meetings in special circumstances. The authorities emphasized that Kejriwal already receives two legal meetings, and seeking five would contravene the Jail Manual.

Lawyers contended that running the government from jail doesn’t warrant exceptional treatment. On April 1, 2024, the court remanded the Delhi Chief Minister to judicial custody until April 15 in the excise policy money laundering case.

Earlier, on April 1, the court directed Tihar Jail authorities to permit Kejriwal to carry prescribed medicine, books, one table and chair, a religious locket, and a special diet as prescribed by doctors, adhering to the jail manual.

Kejriwal’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21, in relation to the excise policy case, followed court directives. This marked the first instance in independent India of a serving Chief Minister’s arrest. Kejriwal’s non-compliance with multiple summons by the investigation agency, totaling nine, was deemed “illegal.”

The case revolves around alleged irregularities and money laundering concerning the framing and implementation of the Delhi excise policy 2022, later scrapped. While Kejriwal was not initially named in the FIRs by the ED or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Delhi excise policy case, his name surfaced in the ED’s chargesheet. The agency claimed he engaged in a video call with one of the main accused, Sameer Mahendru, instructing him to continue collaborating with co-accused and AAP communications-in-charge Vijay Nair.

Nair was among the first arrested by the CBI in 2022. Subsequently, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh were also arrested in connection with the case.