In the excise policy case, the Delhi high court is set to appoint three senior advocates as the amicus curiae to represent the interest of Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and AAP leader Durgesh Pathak in the excise policy case after they chose to boycott the ongoing hearing. On Tuesday, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma made the observation after the accused leaders had missed proceedings related to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) appeal.
The Delhi court made clear that it would formally appoint the amicus curiae, independent legal experts, who assist the court on Friday, and that it would then hear the matter on merits. Justice Sharma said that appointing senior lawyers would make sure that the side of the respondents is well represented even though he did not participate in the case.
This was developed after a trial court, in a case filed by the CBI, ordered February 27 that Kejriwal, Sisodia and many others be discharged, citing the absence of prima facie evidence in the case. The agency then appealed the ruling to the high court and requested that the discharge order be reversed.
The case has also been hit by several legal turns and among the turns is a plea by Kejriwal seeking transfer of the case to another judge, which was turned down. Applications seeking the judge to recuse were also thrown out and the court noted that there was no valid reason to recuse.
With the introduction of amicus curiae, it is now anticipated that the high court would proceed with detailed hearings, which is an important step in the high profile case of the excise policy.