New Delhi

The Delhi High Court on Monday granted time to former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his former deputy Manish Sisodia and 21 others to respond to the Central Bureau of Investigation plea challenging their discharge in the Delhi excise policy case.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma listed the matter for the next hearing on April 6.

Appearing for the agency, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the trial court’s “perverse” order discharging the accused should not remain on record for longer than necessary and urged the court to grant them no more than a week to file their responses.

He also contended that a reply from the accused was not required since the entire trial court record was already available before the high court.

Senior counsel representing the leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party informed the court that they had approached the Supreme Court of India in connection with the matter.

“I have not received any stay yet… till the court gets an order staying the proceedings, the case has to proceed,” the high court observed.

Lawyers appearing for the accused argued there was no urgency in the matter and sought reasonable time to file their replies.

On February 27, the trial court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and 21 others in the case, sharply criticising the probe by the CBI.

The trial court said the agency’s case was unable to survive judicial scrutiny and described the alleged conspiracy as a speculative construct based on conjecture and surmise, lacking admissible evidence.

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It ruled that forcing the accused to face a full criminal trial without legally admissible material would not serve the ends of justice.