The Supreme Court on Thursday exempted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Admi Party leader Kumar Vishwas from personally appearing before a trial court in a criminal case in connection with the 2014 parliamentary election campaign.
A Bench led by Justice J.S. Khehar also directed the Uttar Pradesh government to respond to a plea by Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Vishwas to quash the summons order issued against them.
The Supreme Court’s intervention brought relief to the AAP leaders, whose plea was dismissed by the Allahabad High Court on October 24. The High Court had dismissed their petitions challenging the summons issued by a trial court in Sultanpur on October 7.
The case is based on a first information report lodged by the assistant election officer on April 20, 2014, on various offences under the Indian Penal Code, including unlawful assembly, obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions, wrongful restraint and making of false statement in connection with an election.
The AAP leaders had contended they had the requisite permission to hold a rally and that there was no prohibitory order in force at the time of the alleged offence.
They had accused the local administration and police of filing “frivolous” complaints to impede their election campaign at Gauriganj in Amethi district.
CM, Vishwas had got summons to personally appear before a trial court in a criminal case
