Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal withdrew his appeal against the Enforcement Directorate’s arrest in the Delhi Excise Policy case from the Supreme Court.
Senior Advocate Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, later brought up the issue before Justice Sanjiv Khanna, while he was sitting with Justice Dipankar Datta, even though a Special Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, MM Sundresh, and Bela M Trivedi was scheduled to take up the plea later in the day.
Singhvi said, “As the remand is clashing, decided to withdraw it and fight that remand… Otherwise there will be arguments of remand and then high court and then..” Later the bench agreed to their request.
Singhvi brought the issue to the immediate attention of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud in court number 1 earlier in the day. In response to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha’s plea contesting her detention in the Delhi excise policy issue, the CJI instructed him to go to court number 2, which is presided over by Justice Khanna. A special bench consisting of Justices Khanna, M M Sundresh, and Bela M Trivedi was hearing the case.
When Singhvi hurried to court number two, the bench of Justices Khanna and Dipankar Datta had already risen and proceedings had begun.
Justice Khanna questioned Singhvi on whether his request was an appeal or a writ petition. Notifying Singhvi that it was a writ case, Justice Khanna stated that a three-judge bench would need to hear it. He gave senior counsel the assurance that the three-judge special bench would reconvene as soon as the matters listed before the current bench concludes.
Later, Singhvi notified the court about the decision to withdraw the petition.
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