High Court adjourns CBI plea vs Kejriwal
- Delhi High Court adjourned the CBI’s challenge to Arvind Kejriwal’s discharge in the excise policy case, and reset arguments for May 4. - Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma sought the full trial-court record, while Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and 21 other accused got a last chance to reply. - The fight now centers on whether a trial judge was right to throw out the CBI case as baseless in February.
The Delhi excise policy case is back in a familiar place — not resolved, still politically explosive, and now pushed to another hearing date. On April 29, the Delhi High Court did not decide whether Arvind Kejriwal and the other accused should stay discharged in the CBI case. Instead, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma adjourned the matter to May 4 after calling for the complete trial-court record. That sounds procedural, but it matters because the whole next phase turns on whether the High Court thinks the lower court was justified in tossing the case out. (thehindu.com) ### What happened in court? The CBI is challenging a February 27 trial-court order that discharged Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, BRS leader K. Kavitha, and 20 others in the corruption branch of the Delhi liquor-policy case. On April 29, the High(thehindu.com)in on May 4. (thehindu.com) ### Why does the trial-court record matter so much? Because this is not a fresh trial. The High Court is reviewing whether the trial judge made the right call when refusing to take cognisance of the CBI chargesheet and discharging the accuse(thehindu.com)not stand. That is usually a sign the court wants to examine the foundation, not just hear slogans from both sides. (thehindu.com) ### What was so unusual about the February order? The trial court did not just discharge the accused. It used extraordinarily sharp language. It said the CBI case lacked material strong enough to justify proceeding and described the probe as(thehindu.com)ppeal — the order did not merely help the accused, it directly attacked the credibility of the investigation. (thehindu.com) ### Who all is covered by this plea? The CBI’s revision petition covers Kejriwal, Sisodia, and 21 others discharged in the corruption case tied to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. The names matter politically, but legally the bigger point is scale — this is not(thehindu.com)e shot. (thehindu.com) ### Why has this become messier than a normal appeal? Because the case has spilled into fights over the judge as well as the evidence. Earlier in April, Kejriwal and other accused sought Justice Sharma’s recusal, and that request was rejected. They had also tried to(thehindu.com)two tracks — the merits of the CBI appeal, and the accused’s claim that the process itself has been unfair. (thehindu.com) ### Is this only about the CBI case? No — and that is part of the pressure. The Enforcement Directorate is separately litigating over remarks made in the February discharge order, and that matter is also listed around th(thehindu.com)badly the original prosecutions were handled. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) ### So what should readers watch on May 4? Watch for whether the High Court stays in procedural mode or starts testing the substance of the February ruling. If the court begins probing the trial judge’s reason(economictimes.indiatimes.com) not yet succeeded in reviving the case. (thehindu.com) ### Bottom line? Nothing dramatic happened on April 29, but the pause itself tells you where the case stands. The High Court is not treating the CBI’s challenge as a routine formality. It wants the record, the replies, and a cleaner basis to decide whether one of the most damaging trial-court orders in this saga should survive. (thehindu.com)
