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The Delhi High Court on Monday heard petitions filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, challenging the trial court's decision to take cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) chargesheet in the alleged excise policy scam.
Kejriwal's lawyer, Rebecca John, argued that the proceedings lacked mandatory prosecution sanction and that her client wasn't named as an accused in any of the six chargesheets filed. She further argued that the proceedings suffered from the absence of the mandatory prosecution sanction. Referring to the ED's reply, she said the agency had earlier claimed that the sanction granted to the CBI would automatically extend to its proceedings. Yet, it filed a detailed reply without securing the sanction at that stage. The ED's counsel, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, countered that the requisite sanction had been obtained and placed before the trial court, rendering the petitions infructuous. "This is a theoretical hearing. There is no urgency; the matter is only about the supply of documents," he argued. Justice Ravinder Dudeja noted that the ED had obtained sanction from the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, which would be placed on record. The matter has been listed for further hearing on November 12. The ED maintained that the petitions filed in 2024 had become infructuous as it had received the sanction to prosecute the accused from the Ministry of Home Affairs in January this year. Kejriwal and Sisodia contended that the special court's cognisance of the chargesheet was invalid without prior sanction, as both were public servants at the time of the alleged offences. They have sought to set aside the trial court's order and quash all related proceedings. Earlier, the high court had issued notices to the ED on November 21, 2024, and December 2, 2024, on the two leaders' petitions but declined to stay the trial court proceedings. Kejriwal is currently out on bail granted by the Supreme Court in the money laundering case on July 12, 2024, and later secured bail in the CBI case on September 13, 2024. Sisodia was granted bail in both ED and CBI cases on August 9, 2024. The CBI and ED allege that irregularities were committed in modifying Delhi's excise policy, with undue favours extended to certain license holders under the AAP government. The policy, introduced on November 17, 2021, was scrapped in September 2022 following corruption allegations. (ANI)
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