new delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday dismissed the police plea against the Delhi High Court order asking it to supply the copy of statement of a witness to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and others in a case of alleged assault on the then chief secretary Anshu Prakash in 2018, saying it may be a "hot potato" politically but there was nothing much legally.
A bench of justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said the high court's order supports liberty and "we support it" and moreover, as per the basic principle of natural justice, there must be a robust common sense that the accused must have the copy of the witness statement.
It rejected the vehement submissions of Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi, appearing for police, that if the high court order was not set aside, it will have some serious repercussions.
"Not worth it. It may be a politically hot potato, but in a legal sense it is nothing at all," the apex court said.
At the outset of the hearing, the bench said that the police must abide by the duty of being fair and the copy of the statement must be given to the accused.
"It is a statement of a person which was there in the case diary," the bench said, adding that such a statement must be given.