Kejriwal’s arrest, excise policy hearings hogged limelight in Delhi courts this yr
NEW DELHI: Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest in the 2021-22 excise policy case, and the unfolding drama in connected cases, hogged the limelight in the subordinate judiciary in the national Capital in 2024.
Kejriwal, the first-ever sitting CM to be arrested in the country, was named as an accused in the case and held by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21, and produced before a court the following day.
He was sent to ED’s custody, first until March 28, and then until April 1.
However, Special Judge Niyay Bindu granted him bail on June 20, saying ED failed to give direct evidence against him concerning the proceeds of crime generated in the alleged scam. The Delhi High Court, however, stayed the order on June 21 on the
request of the ED.
Kejriwal was again arrested, on this occasion by the CBI, on June 26 in the corruption case related to the alleged scam.
A court sent him to judicial custody on June 29 after being questioned by the CBI. The AAP national convener eventually got relief from the Supreme Court on July 12 in the ED case, and on September 13 in the CBI case which paved the way for his release from jail.
The action in courts shifted to the custody proceedings of BRS leader K Kavitha in the same case after her arrest by the agencies on March 15 and April 11, respectively. The Supreme Court eventually stepped in and granted her bail on August 27 in both cases.
The agencies pointed to the role of a “south lobby” in the alleged scam. While the CBI chargesheeted Kejriwal in July, it had chargesheeted former Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Telangana MLC Kavitha earlier.
The case of photographer Ankit Saxena, who was allegedly murdered by his girlfriend’s kin for belonging to another faith in 2018, saw a closure when the convicts were awarded rigorous life imprisonment on March 7.
The three included her parents, Akbar Ali and Shahnaz Begum, and maternal uncle Mohammad Salim.
On May 1, a court took cognisance of the chargesheets filed in cases against online news portal Newsclick’s founder Prabir Purkayastha.
Former Wrestling Federation of India’s (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Singh, a BJP heavyweight, was accused of sexual harassment by women wrestlers and a complaint in this regard prompted a court to frame relevant charges against him on May 21. Besides Bhushan, co-accused Vinod Tomar, then assistant secretary of the WFI, also faced charges. They have pleaded not guilty.
On July 1, Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar was sentenced to five months’ simple imprisonment by a court in a defamation case filed by Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena twenty-three years ago when he headed an NGO in Gujarat. The judge however suspended the sentence and her appeal is pending
before a court.
Congress leader Karti Chidambaram was granted bail in an alleged Chinese-visa scam money laundering case on June 6. Another Congress politician, Jagdish Tytler, is facing accusations of involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases. On September 13, charges of murder and other crimes were framed against him after he pleaded not guilty.
Engineer Rashid, accused in a Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case, won a Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 elections while jailed. He was granted interim bail on September 11 to campaign, which was extended until October 2. After surrendering on October 28, his regular bail plea was rejected by the court, with a legal question about which court should hear his case pending in Delhi High Court. Other politicians involved in legal cases include Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and Tahir Hussain, who didn’t receive relief, though Khalid was granted seven days’ reprieve for a family wedding. Charges in the northeast Delhi riots were framed against Ishrat Jahan, Khalid Saifi, and others.
In the “land-for-jobs” case, Lalu Prasad, his family, and others secured bail in October. Senior AAP leader Satyendar Jain was granted bail in a money laundering case after 18 months on October 18. AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan was released in November after the court dismissed charges against him in a Delhi Waqf case. Another AAP MLA, Naresh Balyan, was arrested in a separate case on December 4.
With numerous bail requests, it remains to be seen whether subordinate courts will begin trials and deliver verdicts in 2025.
