Delhi High Court Reserves Order On Arvind Kejriwal's Plea For Additional VC Meetings With Lawyers

The Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved order on a plea moved by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is in judicial custody in the alleged liquor policy scam, for granting two additional meetings with his lawyers through virtual conferencing.

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna said that the order will be pronounced in the chamber.

Special counsel Zoheb Hossain appearing for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposed the plea saying that it is infructuous as Kejriwal has been granted interim bail by the Apex Court.

“As on date, Supreme Court has granted him interim bail. Whether this application survives or not has to be considered. Can an order be passed in this application which was moved when the petitioner was in judicial custody in the PMLA case which is no longer the position today? The application is infructuous due to subsequent events,” he said.

Hossain further said that when common citizens lodged in the jail are allowed to have two legal meetings in a week, there is no reason why a different treatment should be given to Kejriwal.

He also submitted that no fact was demonstrated by Kejriwal to show why two legal meetings in a week, as permitted, are inadequate.

He also said that Kejriwal misused legal interviews to send messages via his lawyer to Delhi Ministers for administrative work and that the same was recorded in a judicial order by the trial court.

The counsel appearing for Tihar jail authorities also opposed the plea on the ground that Rule 585 of Delhi Prison Rules permits only two legal meetings in a week which has been allowed to Kejriwal and that no further indulgence can be shown to him.

He said that Kejriwal sought two additional physical meetings in a week before the trial court but changed the prayer to virtual meetings before the High Court, underscoring that changing the mode of prayer will not change the Rule in question.

He also said that the circumstances cited to seek two additional legal meetings were not justified.

Senior Advocate Ramesh Gupta appearing for Kejriwal submitted that the two additional VC meetings have been sought in view of special circumstances and that the Chief Minister is still in judicial custody in the CBI case, despite release in the money laundering case. Therefore, he said, that the application cannot be said to be infructuous.

He also said that the messages allegedly sent by Kejriwal through his counsel was when he was in police custody and not in judicial custody.

After hearing the parties, the court proceeded to reserve the matter.

Kejriwal has said that he is presently having 35 cases pending and thus wants two more additional meetings with his lawyers through VC.

Kejriwal has challenged the trial court order passed on July 01 dismissing his application for two additional meetings with his lawyers in connection with the money laundering case.

Justice Krishna yesterday reserved order on Kejriwal's plea challenging CBI's arrest and interim bail in the corruption case.

Title: Arvind Kejriwal v. Dept of Delhi Prisons & Anr.