HC to appoint counsels as AAP netas boycott excise case hearing

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said that it would appoint three senior advocates as amici curiae to assist it in the case challenging the discharge of former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other individuals booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Delhi excise policy case.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma passed the direction after Kejriwal and two other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders -- Manish Sisodia and Durgesh Pathak -- decided to boycott the proceedings before her bench.


The judge said she will appoint three senior lawyers "so it will be appropriate that I hear CBI arguments once the amicus is appointed". The court said the amicus will be appointed on Friday, the next date of hearing.

Kejriwal, Sisodia and Pathak had earlier sought Justice Sharma's recusal. However, she had turned down their application in a detailed and sharply worded order on April 20.

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Justice Sharma had ruled that the "narratives" raised in the application filed by Arvind Kejriwal, asking her to recuse from hearing the Delhi excise police case, are "based on conjectures and insinuations".

Refusing to recuse, she had said in her order that Kejriwal failed to point out any political statement made by her which would be indicative of any ideological bias on her part.