Chief Secretary case: Kejriwal to face conspiracy charge, AAP slams conspiracy
New Delhi, June 28: Delhi Police is likely to charge Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia with conspiracy in the alleged assault of Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash by two AAP MLAs, said police sources. The ruling AAP slammed the case as politically motivated.
According to the police sources, the charge sheet will "most probably" be filed at Tis Hazari Court here in the first week of July.
Terming it a politically motivated case, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said that this is a conspiracy to defame the Delhi Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister.
"Delhi Police has been planting all kinds of fictitious stories since the last four months. The truth is that a conspiracy was hatched by the police and Prakash to defame CM Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia in a bid to destabilise the elected state government," AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj told the media.
Prakash, who had gone to attend a late night "emergency" meeting called by Kejriwal at his residence in Civil Lines on February 19, had alleged that he was assaulted by Aam Aadmi Party MLAs Amanutullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal.
The timing of the CCTV cameras installed at Kejriwal's residence was tampered, according to the police.
The two MLAs were arrested a day after the allegation was made and were later released on bail.
Kejriwal and Sisodia were interrogated separately by police last month for calling the meeting late in the night and for the "tampering" with the cameras.
Bhardwaj however claimed that no incidence of violence took place on the night of February 19 at the Delhi CM's residence and that "CCTV tampering allegation has proved to be false".
"Delhi Polce has been unable to answer a simple question that if the Chief Secretary was assaulted, then how was it that in the CCTV footage he was seen walking normally out of the CM residence.
"The Chief Secretary - a person with close links with senior BJP leaders - instead of going to the police, went straight to Raj Niwas at 12.30 p.m., where the Lt. Governor, along with Delhi Police Commissioner were already waiting for him to implicate the CM and dozen AAP MLAs in a fabricated case," Bhardwaj alleged.
He further went on to say that it is a matter of shame for the the Delhi Police has allowed itself to be a "spineless political arm of the Central government".
"AAP won't be cowed down by such repressive measures and will strongly contest the bogus police chargesheet as and when it will be filed in the court.
"The party will expose the conspiracy against itself before the people," he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
K’taka HC judge whose controversial remarks triggered controversy expresses regret before open court
Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court judge, Justice V Srishananda, on Saturday expressed regret in open court after facing backlash over his controversial remarks in his recent court hearings, reported Bar and Bench.
Two purported video clips from Justice V Srishananda’s court hearing that show him making inappropriate comments went viral across social media platforms.
On Saturday, Justice Srishananda invited members of the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, and senior lawyers to his courtroom at 2:30 PM, where he read out a note expressing regret for inappropriate comments.
Quoting Advocates Association President Vivek Subba Reddy, Bar and Bench wrote, “He expressed regret for the comments and clarified that it was not his intention to offend any community or members of the Bar. He also requested the association to relay this message to all members of the Bar.”
Reddy further stated, “We also advised him to encourage young lawyers in the courtroom and refrain from making any irrelevant remarks during hearings.”
Another senior lawyer present during the session confirmed to the legal news portal that Justice Srishananda also addressed comments directed at a woman lawyer, who was seen in one of the videos being reprimanded by the judge. The judge Justice Srishananda clarified that his remarks were not intended to target her (woman lawyer) specifically, but rather pertained to the appellant she was representing. “He explained that his comment was meant to imply that the appellant seemed to know a lot about the other party,” said the lawyer.
In addition, Justice Srishananda assured those present that he would avoid making such comments in the future.
The controversy came to light on September 19, when a video clip from an August 28 Court hearing surfaced on social media, showing Justice Srishananda referring to a Muslim-majority sub-locality in Bengaluru’s Goripalya as "Pakistan." Hours later, another video from the same courtroom emerged, in which the judge was seen making a gender-insensitive remark.
Following outrage over the viral videos, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Hrishikesh Roy, on September 20 took a suo motu cognizance and sought a report from the Karnataka High Court Registrar General in connection with the viral video.
