The Aryavarth Express New Delhi [India], March 20: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed three caveat applications before the Supreme Court in connection with the Special Leave Petitions (SLPs) filed by former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia, and other accused challenging the Delhi High Court’s orders in the excise policy case and seeking a transfer of the matter.
Caveats are filed to ensure that the Supreme Court hears the CBI before passing any orders. Such applications are typically submitted when a party anticipates urgent listing and wants to secure an opportunity to present its arguments before any interim directions are issued.
Three separate caveats have reportedly been lodged by the agency. Currently, the SLPs filed by Kejriwal and others are marked as “under defect” on the Supreme Court website, indicating that certain procedural requirements are yet to be completed before the matter can be formally listed.
In their petitions filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, the petitioners have sought transfer of proceedings from the Bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the Delhi High Court. They have raised concerns over remarks allegedly made by the judge during earlier hearings, particularly in bail proceedings related to the excise policy case.
The petitioners argue that prima facie ex parte observations made in earlier hearings raise reasonable apprehensions regarding the fairness of future proceedings. They also highlighted a recent development in which the judge, while hearing the CBI’s appeal against a trial court order discharging all accused, stayed proceedings before the trial court.
The move to approach the Supreme Court comes after Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya declined to transfer the case administratively. The Chief Justice stated that the matter had been assigned according to the roster and that decisions on recusal rest with the concerned judge. “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,” he said.
The Delhi excise policy case pertains to alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Excise Policy 2021-22 and is being investigated by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Several AAP leaders, including Kejriwal and Sisodia, have been named as accused.
With the CBI filing caveats and procedural defects in the SLPs pending, the Supreme Court is expected to take up the matter only after these formalities are completed.
