Justice Sanjiv Khanna: The future CJI who will decide the fate of Kejriwal & AAP
Justice Sanjiv Khanna: The future CJI who will decide the fate of Kejriwal & AAP
Given that most of the Delhi excise policy cases are awaiting adjudication in his court, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, currently the Supreme Court’s second senior-most judge and the next in line to become Chief Justice of India, will literally decide the fate of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in regard to the alleged liquor scam.
The liquorgate heat on the Aam Aadmi Party has only intensified during the last one year, with a spate of arrests of top leaders of the party.Â
The legal battles of the party and its senior leaders over the last year have been rife with setbacks, with different courts and different judges denying them relief on multiple occasions, with just a few exceptions.Â
On expected lines, many of these cases reached the top court, where benches led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna heard them as per the roster. The roster of which judge will hear which case is decided by the Chief Justice of India, who is the ‘master of the roster’.
With the legal proceedings concerning Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal ongoing before Justice Khanna, it would seem fair to assume that he holds the key to the Aam Aadmi Party’s political future.Â
On May 10, the bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta is set to consider whether interim bail should be granted to Kejriwal for campaigning in the ongoing general elections. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has strongly opposed interim bail for Kejriwal on the grounds that the right to campaign for an election is neither a fundamental right nor a constitutional right, and not even a legal right.
Regardless of whether Kejriwal is granted interim bail or not, the top court will also deal with the important question of whether the Delhi Chief Minister’s arrest in the ED case was legal in the first place. The final judgment of the Supreme Court in this case is expected to have wider ramifications on the ED’s powers to arrest. Through his plea before the Supreme Court, Kejriwal has challenged the legality of his arrest and remand. During the course of the hearing, the bench led by Justice Khanna had stated that in this case, they will rule on Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which deals with the powers of the ED to arrest.
On October 30 last year, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti had denied bail to former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia in the Excise policy case. Although Sisodia was denied bail, the bench granted him the liberty to approach the lower court for bail again if his trial is delayed. The same bench also granted bail to liquor giant Pernod Ricard’s executive Benoy Babu in December 2023.
A few months later, on March 22, 2024, one day after the Delhi CM was arrested, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, MM Sundresh and Bela M Trivedi refused to grant any relief to BRS legislator K Kavitha in the same case. While refusing to grant her relief, Justice Khanna said, “All of us, in principle, agree that we should not, merely because there is a political person or somebody who can directly afford to come to the Supreme Court, bypass all the statutory and constitutional values.”
Less than two weeks after the Kavitha order, another bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Dipankar Datta and PB Varale granted bail to Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh after the ED hesitatingly agreed to his release.
Though different benches of the Supreme Court, with different judge compositions, have passed orders in the Delhi excise policy case, Justice Khanna has been the common factor in all of these benches.Â
On Friday, the bench led by Justice Khanna is expected to rule on whether Arvind Kejriwal will be granted interim bail. The bench in due course will also hear Kejriwal’s original plea challenging his arrest. Additionally, Manish Sisodia’s bail plea will also eventually reach the Supreme Court, in case the high court turns down his pending appeal.
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