High Court seeks Tihar reply to CM plea on meeting lawyers
New Delhi, July 8
The High Court on Monday issued a notice to the Tihar Jail authorities and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea seeking additional meetings with his lawyers through video-conferencing.
Justice Neena Bansal, hearing the plea, sought responses from Tihar Jail and the ED within five days, listing the matter for July 15.
Kejriwal’s counsel, senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, argued that the request for additional meetings with lawyers should not be considered prejudicial. When the special counsel for the ED, Zoheb Hossain, interjected, Gupta asserted that the matter is strictly between Kejriwal and the jail authorities, leaving no grounds for the Central probe agency to intervene.
Gupta pointed out that Kejriwal is currently dealing with 35 pending cases and, therefore, seeks two additional meetings with his lawyers via video-conference.
On being asked by the court what was the objection to the plea, the lawyer representing the jail authorities submitted that the rule is the same for all and a prisoner is entitled to two meetings with his or her advocate in a week.
