The Delhi High Court on Friday directed Sunita Kejriwal, wife of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and social media platforms to take down a video recording of the Aam Aadmi Party leader speaking in the court following his arrest in the liquor policy case, reported Bar and Bench.
A division bench of Justices Neena Bansal Krishna and Amit Sharma passed the order while hearing a plea by an advocate named Vaibhav Singh.
Singh was seeking the formation of a special investigating team to probe and register a case for “alleged conspiracy of recording and sharing the audio and video” of the court proceedings and putting the life of the trial court judge at risk, according to The Indian Express.
The plea contended that Sunita Kejriwal and some other persons, who are members/supporters of political parties, recorded and posted on social media platforms the trial court proceedings on March 28.
At the hearing, Arvind Kejriwal had accused the Enforcement Directorate of crushing his party and creating an “extortion racket”.
The petitioner argued that recording court proceedings is prohibited under the High Court of Delhi Rules for Video Conferencing for Courts 2021, reported Bar and Bench. The petitioner also alleged that by sharing these recordings, an effort was made to malign the image of the judiciary.
Arvind Kejriwal surrendered at the Tihar jail on June 2 after his 21-day interim bail period ended. The Supreme Court had granted the Opposition leader bail on May 10 in the Delhi liquor policy case to allow him to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. He was arrested by the central law enforcement agency on March 21.
Before surrendering, the Aam Aadmi Party chief on May 28 had filed two separate petitions in Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court. While one pleaded for a regular bail in the money-laundering case, the second petition sought interim bail for seven days on medical grounds.
On June 5, the Delhi court rejected his plea seeking interim bail for seven days. The petition for regular bail will be heard on June 19.
Also read: Why the courts have denied bail to Aam Aadmi Party leaders, despite weak evidence
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