New Delhi, March 9 The Enforcement Directorate has approached the Delhi High Court to have the observations made by a trial court on its investigation into money laundering against former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and others linked to the CBI's excise policy case removed.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said the February 27 order was a "clear case of judicial overreach" because the court neither examined the agency's evidence nor heard it while passing strictures against it.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet relates to alleged irregularities in the 2021 Delhi excise policy introduced by the then Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. The CBI and the ED investigated the case independently.
"It is well-established law that a court cannot overlook the basic and vitally essential principle of the Rule of Law that no one should be condemned unheard, and that when there is no relevance to the subject matter of adjudication, it is certainly not desirable for courts to make comments or observations reflecting on the bona fides or credibility of any person or authority," the ED said in its petition filed on March 7.
The petition is listed for hearing before Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma on Tuesday