New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday asked Tihar jail authorities to respond to a plea by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in Delhi excise scam cases, seeking additional virtual meetings with his lawyers.
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna gave the prison authorities five days to file a response and put the matter up for discussion on July 15.
Kejriwal has challenged a trial court's July 1 order rejecting his plea seeking directions to the jail authorities to grant him two additional meetings in a week with his lawyers through video conferencing.
Currently, the imprisoned national leader of the Aam Aadmi Party is allowed two meetings with his lawyers a week.
Kejriwal's lawyer claimed that the AAP leader was facing around 35 litigations across the country and on fair trial grounds, he needed two additional meetings with his lawyers through video conferencing to discuss the cases.
The Enforcement Directorate's lawyer also said that he wanted to file a response to the allegation.
When asked by the court what the objection to the statement was, the lawyer representing the prison authorities stated that the rule is the same for everyone and that an inmate is entitled to two meetings with his lawyer in a week.
He added that the 35 cases were not examined simultaneously in one week, so there was no need for additional meetings.
The trial court rejected the plea, saying that the plaintiff's attorney had failed to convince the court how the plaintiff was entitled to two additional legal conferences via video conferencing for the same reasons that were discussed and addressed in an earlier order.
In separate petitions, Kejriwal challenged his arrest in the corruption case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the alleged excise policy scam and also sought bail.
Both petitions are pending before the high court.
The AAP leader was arrested by the CBI on June 26 from Tihar jail, where he is still in judicial custody in a related money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Kejriwal, who was arrested by the ED on March 21, was granted bail by the trial court in the money laundering case on June 20. However, the high court stayed the trial court's order.
The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after Delhi's lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption related to its formulation and implementation.
According to the CBI and ED, irregularities were committed while changing the excise policy and undue favors were extended to license holders.
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna gave the prison authorities five days to file a response and put the matter up for discussion on July 15.
Kejriwal has challenged a trial court's July 1 order rejecting his plea seeking directions to the jail authorities to grant him two additional meetings in a week with his lawyers through video conferencing.
Currently, the imprisoned national leader of the Aam Aadmi Party is allowed two meetings with his lawyers a week.
Kejriwal's lawyer claimed that the AAP leader was facing around 35 litigations across the country and on fair trial grounds, he needed two additional meetings with his lawyers through video conferencing to discuss the cases.
The Enforcement Directorate's lawyer also said that he wanted to file a response to the allegation.
When asked by the court what the objection to the statement was, the lawyer representing the prison authorities stated that the rule is the same for everyone and that an inmate is entitled to two meetings with his lawyer in a week.
He added that the 35 cases were not examined simultaneously in one week, so there was no need for additional meetings.
The trial court rejected the plea, saying that the plaintiff's attorney had failed to convince the court how the plaintiff was entitled to two additional legal conferences via video conferencing for the same reasons that were discussed and addressed in an earlier order.
In separate petitions, Kejriwal challenged his arrest in the corruption case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the alleged excise policy scam and also sought bail.
Both petitions are pending before the high court.
The AAP leader was arrested by the CBI on June 26 from Tihar jail, where he is still in judicial custody in a related money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Kejriwal, who was arrested by the ED on March 21, was granted bail by the trial court in the money laundering case on June 20. However, the high court stayed the trial court's order.
The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after Delhi's lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption related to its formulation and implementation.
According to the CBI and ED, irregularities were committed while changing the excise policy and undue favors were extended to license holders.
