The small courtroom at the Patiala House where former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was to be produced on Friday from judicial custody after his 48-hour stay at the Tihar Jail bustled with advocates, general public and supporters, who held up the hearing for two hours making the AAP leader’s production a task.
There were advocates supporting the AAP and the BJP, and supporters started trickling in at 10 a.m. By the time the matter came up for hearing, there was literally no space for Mr. Kejriwal to be brought to the court, forcing the authorities to shift the hearing to the video-conferencing room a few metres away from the designated court room.
The hearing, which was scheduled to start at 10 a.m., was rescheduled for 12 noon. At 11-30 a.m., advocates and media persons began to enter the courtroom. Many advocates came only to witness the proceedings, while some wanted to catch a glimpse of Mr. Kejriwal.
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There were small arguments on the first rights of advocates in the courtroom and the rights of media in an open court.
Later, when the counsel for both Mr. Kejriwal and BJP leader Nitin Gadkari managed to reach the bar, Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati Manocha requested the occupants to make space for Mr. Kejriwal but in vain.
“This is an open court. I cannot ask anyone to leave. But I am requesting you all to make some space and those not related to the case may please leave the room,” the court said but to no effect.
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This forced the magistrate to retire to her chamber. But the jostling and bumping continued in the courtroom for almost two hours while outside AAP supporters raised slogans. The advocates asked media persons to leave the room blaming them for creating a space crunch.
Some advocates even demanded that the hearing be shifted to a bigger courtroom.
After a while, the court staff informed the counsel for Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Gadkari to reach the video-conferencing room where Mr. Kejriwal was already present along with a posse of police personnel.