Page 38 - Delhi High Court

HC to pronounce on Tuesday verdict on CM Kejriwal's plea challenging arrest

The Delhi High Court is scheduled to deliver on Tuesday its verdict on a plea by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is in judicial custody in a money laundering case linked with the alleged excise scam, challenging his arrest. As per the cause list uploaded on the high court's website, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma will pronounce the order at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Besides his arrest, Kejriwal has also challenged his subsequent remand in the Enforcement Directorate's custody. He was later remanded in judicial custody and is currently lodged in Tihar jail. The AAP national convener has questioned the "timing" of his arrest by the agency and said it was in contravention of the basic structure of the Constitution, including democracy, free and fair elections and level playing field. The ED has opposed the plea and contended that Kejriwal cannot claim "immunity" from arrest on the ground of upcoming elections as law is applied equally to him and an "aam aadmi". Kejriwal was arrested by

Delhi HC seeks Centre's stand on plea by NGO against FCRA cancellation

The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the stand of the Centre on a petition by NGO Environics Trust challenging its order cancelling its registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). Justice Subramonium Prasad issued notice to the central government and asked it to file a reply to the petition within four weeks. "The petitioner has approached this court challenging an order dated March 4, 2024 cancelling the registration under FCRA. Issue Notice. Reply be filed in four weeks," the judge said. Senior counsel, appearing for the petitioner, said the cancellation order was passed by the Centre without hearing the NGO. "They have to give us a personal hearing before they pass the order of cancellation. There was no hearing given to us. For that every ground this order has to go," he said. He also urged the court to permit it to utilise the amount lying in its accounts for payment of salaries to its employees. The Central government counsel said the writ petition w

Delhi HC rejects plea seeking removal of 'jailed' Arvind Kejriwal as CM

The petitioner said that after the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal on March 21, there was a 'lack of government' in the national capital

HC asks judges to prioritise criminal cases against MPs/MLAs for disposal

The Delhi High Court has asked its judges to give priority to the criminal cases pending before them against members of Parliament and legislative assemblies to ensure their expeditious and effective disposal. The high court was informed by its registry that presently there are 34 pending cases or appeals or revisions involving MPs and MLAs before a single judge bench of the high court in which orders of stay of trial have been passed and are continuing for a period of more than six months. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora transferred the cases from the single judge concerned and directed the registry to re-allocate or re-distribute those 34 cases to other courts or benches as is considered appropriate and effective for their expeditious disposal so that stay applications are disposed of expeditiously and trial of such cases can conclude before the designated special courts. In line with the directives passed by the Chief Justice of India....we .

Delhi HC refuses to entertain plea seeking removal of Kejriwal as CM

The Delhi High Court on Thursday refuses to entertain a PIL seeking the removal of Arvind Kejriwal as chief minister following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy-linked money laundering case. The high court said at times, personal interest has to be subordinate to national interest. "At times, personal interest has to be subordinate to national interest but that is his personal call. We are a court of law and have to go by the law. Your remedy does not lie here, it lies elsewhere. You go before the competent forum," a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora said. The bench said it has recently dismissed a similar PIL seeking removal of Kejriwal from the post of chief minister and thus, it cannot take a different view. As the court refused to interfere in the issue, petitioner Vishnu Gupta's lawyer said he has instructions to withdraw the petition and that he will approach the Lieutenant Governor with his plea. The court dispo

Excise policy: HC reserves verdict on Kejriwal's petition against ED arrest

Delhi liquor policy case: ED rebuffed CM Arvind Kejriwal's petition, stating the offence of money laundering was prima facie established and the investigation was still in its early stages

Kejriwal tells HC his arrest has 'ulterior motive' to disintegrate AAP

Jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeks relief from court, says Enforcement Directorate (ED) didn't record his statement the night he was arrested

Excise 'scam': Delhi court directs Sanjay Singh not to tamper with evidence

A Delhi court on Wednesday directed AAP leader Sanjay Singh not to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses in the Excise "scam" case. Special Judge Kaveri Baweja passed the directions before passing an order to release Singh from Tihar central jail following bail granted to him by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The judge also directed Singh to submit passport, inform it about itinerary before leaving NCR, and to always keep his phone location on. During the brief hearing, Singh's counsel informed the court that the politician's wife would be surety for the accused in the matter. "I (Singh) am the Member of Parliament. There is no flight risk," the counsel told the court. The judge directed the accused to submit a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and one surety of same amount.

Delhi HC imposes Rs 1 lakh fine on Google for representing wrong facts

The High Court noted that Google's application was dismissed due to a lack of inventive steps. However, Google claimed that the application was abandoned before EPO

HC gives last chance to Oppn to reply on plea against use of INDIA acronym

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted a last opportunity to the Centre and several opposition parties to respond to a petition seeking to restrain them from using the acronym INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance). A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora said that the replies be filed within one week to the public interest litigation which alleged that by using the INDIA acronym, the parties were taking undue advantage in the name of our country. The high court, which refused to prepone the date of hearing of the petition, said an endeavour shall be made to hear and dispose of the petition on April 10. The contesting respondents are given the last and final opportunity to file their replies within a week, the bench said. The court was hearing an application by petitioner Girish Bharadwaj seeking early hearing of the matter on the grounds that the petition was pending since August 2023 and pleadings are yet to be completes and the ..

Delhi HC asks DDA to give details of land for developing 50-acre forest

The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the DDA to give details of the land parcel the agency would earmark for developing a 50-acre forest in the national capital. Justice Jasmeet Singh asked the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to file the affidavit in 10 days and said the land selected for the project should be "sustainable". The court's order came while dealing with contempt proceedings against the DDA over cutting down of several trees in the Southern Ridge area without due permission for constructing an approach road near South Asian University in Maidan Garhi here. The DDA counsel tendered an apology and said although the trees were cut down, there was no "wilful disobedience" as the field staff "misconstrued" a Delhi government notification exempting around 4.9 hectares of the land from taking approval of the tree officer as the final permission for felling. Urging the court to not proceed further with contempt action, she said a 50-acre land parcel in the Madanpur Khadar are

Court rejects Tahir Hussain's bail plea, notes his role in 2020 Delhi riots

The court said that in the case in hand, after going through the record, it is of the view that the allegations against the accused are prima facie true

Delhi HC dismisses PIL to remove Kejriwal from Delhi CM post after arrest

The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed a PIL seeking the removal of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal from the post of chief minister following his arrest in the excise policy-linked money laundering case. A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan refused to comment on the merits of the issue, saying the same fell outside the scope of judicial interference. "It is for the other wings of the government to examine in accordance with the law," the bench, also comprising Justice Manmeet PS Arora, said. During the hearing, the court asked petitioner Surjit Singh Yadav's counsel to show the legal bar on the continuation of Kejriwal as the chief minister. "There may be practical difficulties but that is something else. Where is the legal bar?" the court asked. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener, who was arrested on March 21 and subsequently remanded to the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) custody till March 28 by a Delhi court, faces allegations of direct involvement in a ...

Delhi HC dismisses Cong's plea against tax re-assessment by I-T authorities

The Delhi High Court on Thursday rejected petitions by the Congress challenging the initiation of tax reassessment proceedings against it for a period of four years by tax authorities. A bench of Justices Yashwant Varma and Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav said the pleas were dismissed in terms of its earlier decision refusing to interfere with the opening of re-assessment for another year. The present matter pertained to assessment years 2017 to 2021. In the earlier petition, which was dismissed last week, the Congress party had challenged initiation of re-assessment proceedings pertaining to assessment years 2014-15 to 2016-17.

ED seeks time from HC to reply to Kejriwal's plea in liquor policy case

The Enforcement Directorate says it got Delhi Chief Minister's petition just yesterday

Arvind Kejriwal's arrest: HC warns lawyers of severe consequences

Delhi High Court Acting Chief Justice Manmohan on Wednesday cautioned lawyers against staging protests on court premises against the arrest of Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, saying the consequences would be "severe". The Aam Aadmi Party's legal cell has called for a protest in district courts here on Wednesday following Kejriwal's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case. "Consequences would be severe for organising protest in court. Courts cannot be withheld. Courts cannot be stopped. We cannot take away someone's right to approach the court," Justice Manmohan said. "If someone does it, they would do it at their own peril," he asserted. The issue was mentioned before a bench of the acting chief justice and Justice Manmeet P S Arora by advocate Vaibhav Singh who said that court premises cannot be used for political purposes. Justice Manmohan said he would take up the issue tomorrow, hoping that "sen

PIL in HC seeks to restrain Kejriwal from issuing order while in custody

There is a likelihood that the order issued by Kejriwal in the capacity of Chief Minister of the NCT of Delhi may influence a fair and proper investigation

HC to hear Kejriwal's challenge to arrest in excise policy case on March 27

The Delhi High Court will on Wednesday hear a petition by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money-laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam. Kejriwal's petition, which has sought his immediate release on account of the arrest and the subsequent remand to ED being "illegal", is listed for hearing before Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma at 10.30 am. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener was arrested on March 21 and subsequently remanded to the ED's custody till March 28 by a Delhi court. Kejriwal had moved the high court last week with his petition but according to highly-placed sources, his request for an urgent hearing was turned down as the high court was closed for Holi. On Friday, the trial court had remanded Kejriwal in the ED's custody till March 28 "for his detailed and sustained interrogation". The ED arrested Kejriwal hours after the high court refused to grant him protection from coercive

HC seeks response of govt to plea against FCRA licence cancellation of CPR

Justice Chandra Dhari Singh issued a notice to the central government and asked them to file a short reply within two weeks

Delhi HC seeks Centre's stand on deploying forces for protection of forests

The Delhi High Court has sought the Centre's stand on a petition about whether any force can be deployed for the protection of forests in the national capital from illegal activities or encroachments by land grabbers and mafia. The court's direction came on a petition seeking a direction to the Central government to post an adequate number of Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers with the Delhi government's Department of Forests and Wildlife. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, in the reply, said forest officials were facing constant threats from land grabbers and mafia who make rampant encroachment on forest land, and a proposal has been made for engaging the CISF in forest areas. The counsel for the Centre, however, said CISF rules don't permit such deployment. "Counsel for Union of India is directed to take instructions as to whether any other force can be deployed for the protection of forest so as to ensure that no illegal activities or encroachments in the forest area