New Delhi [India], March 15 : Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia, and other accused in the Delhi excise policy case have approached the Supreme Court seeking transfer of proceedings from the Bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the Delhi High Court.
According to the legal team of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the petitions have been filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, raising concerns over certain remarks and observations allegedly made earlier by Justice Sharma while hearing several bail pleas of the accused persons in the excise policy case.
The plea also states that the judge has made several prima facie ex parte observations during earlier hearings, which, according to the petitioners, raise apprehensions regarding the fairness of the proceedings.
The petitioners have further pointed to a recent development where, while hearing the CBI's appeal against the trial court order discharging all accused, the judge stayed proceedings before the trial court.
The move before the Supreme Court comes after Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya declined Kejriwal's request seeking administrative transfer of the case from Justice Sharma to another Bench.
In a communication issued on the administrative side, the Chief Justice said the petition had been assigned to the judge in accordance with the current roster, and there was no ground to order its transfer.
"The petition is assigned to the 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," the Chief Justice said.
AAP's legal team confirmed receiving the communication from the Delhi High Court administration regarding the rejection of the transfer request.
The Delhi excise policy case relates to alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, which is under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Several AAP leaders, including Kejriwal and Sisodia, have been named as accused in the case.
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