New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Friday adjourned the hearing on a petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging the discharge of AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and others in the alleged excise policy corruption case, saying that it was awaiting consent from certain counsel proposed to be appointed as amici curiae.

A single-judge bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma deferred the matter to May 11, observing that the court was waiting for certain senior advocates to convey their consent to assist the court as amici curiae for Kejriwal, Sisodia and AAP leader Durgesh Pathak, who have decided to abstain from participating in the proceedings.

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, informed the court that replies had been filed to applications moved by other accused persons in the matter and further submitted that the issue relating to the maintainability of the revision petition would be addressed during the course of his arguments.

The development comes after the Delhi High Court earlier indicated that it would appoint three senior advocates as amici curiae to represent Kejriwal, Sisodia and Pathak in view of their decision to opt out of the proceedings.

Earlier this week, Justice Sharma had observed that the respondents were neither appearing in person nor represented through counsel, and had said that the assistance of amici curiae would be necessary before the court proceeds to hear arguments on behalf of the CBI.

The AAP leaders had decided to abstain from the proceedings after Justice Sharma declined to recuse herself from hearing the matter.

In a letter addressed to the court, Kejriwal had said that his “hope of getting justice” from the present Bench of Justice Sharma stood “shattered” and invoked the path of “Satyagraha”, while reserving his right to challenge any adverse order before the Supreme Court. Sisodia had also conveyed a similar stand, stating that his decision to abstain from the proceedings was based on personal conviction and not out of disrespect towards the judiciary.

The trial court, in a detailed judgment running into more than 1,100 paragraphs on February 27, had discharged all the accused, rejecting the prosecution’s allegation of an overarching conspiracy and observing that the record suggested the excise policy was the outcome of a consultative and deliberative process. In its revision plea, the CBI has alleged that the now-scrapped excise policy introduced by the then AAP-led Delhi government was manipulated to favour select liquor traders in exchange for kickbacks.

–IANS

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