Arvind Kejriwal and AAP leader Ashutosh pulled up by Delhi High Court, says judge cannot be blamed for speedy trial

Source – financialexpress.com

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Ashutosh was pulled up by the Delhi High Court on Friday for filing a plea to set aside an order of a single judge, which had directed that the trial in the Rs 10 crore defamation suit filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley be conducted expeditiously, as per Indian Express report. Reiterating that the judge “could not be faulted for ensuring speedy trial and courts were duty bound to conduct trial expeditiously,” a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said that it the first time a court is hearing a grievance against trial being expedited, added the report. Adding that courtrooms cannot be used for publicity, the bench said,”Both parties are people of eminence. It is due to the consideration of the stature of people involved that the… judge has passed such an order.”

Earlier, on July 26, an order was passed by Justice Manmohan stating that the dignity of the court had to be maintained and no person could be subjected to scandalous remarks in the garb of cross-examination. Moreover, the judge also limited the courtroom to the presence of only advocates in the case.

Subsequently, Kejriwal and Ashutosh had filed the plea stating that the judge had “erred grievously in holding that the joint registrar is recording evidence under supervision of the court and if a party is subjected to abuse or humiliation during cross-examination, the court could certainly intervene”.