Fri Dec 06 19:08:13 UTC 2024: ## Delhi High Court Rejects Kejriwal’s Plea to Expedite Hearing in Money Laundering Case

**NEW DELHI, December 7, 2024** – The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to advance the hearing of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging a trial court’s decision to take cognizance of a money laundering chargesheet against him. The hearing, initially scheduled for December 20th, will remain unchanged.

Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri cited a heavy caseload as the reason for denying Kejriwal’s request. Kejriwal’s petition argues that the trial court’s action was invalid because the necessary sanction for his prosecution, required for a public servant, was absent when the chargesheet was filed.

However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Enforcement Directorate (ED), countered that the sanction was obtained before the chargesheet was filed. The ED’s case stems from a CBI investigation into alleged irregularities in Delhi’s now-scrapped 2021-22 excise policy. Both agencies allege corruption and favoritism in the policy’s implementation.

Kejriwal received interim bail from the Supreme Court in July and bail from the CBI case in September. The Delhi government implemented the policy in November 2021 and scrapped it in September 2022 amid widespread corruption allegations. The CBI’s investigation was initiated based on a recommendation from Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena. The High Court had previously refused to stay the trial court proceedings and requested the ED’s response to Kejriwal’s plea on November 21st.

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