A Delhi court on Tuesday issued a notice to the Delhi Police on an application by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and 11 AAP MLAs urging the court to restrain the police from leaking content of the chargesheet in the Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash assault case to the media.
Seeks response
The police had on Monday charge-sheeted Mr. Kejriwal, Mr. Sisodia and 11 AAP MLAs in the case.
Taking their application on record, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal sought response from the police by August 25. Mr. Vishal also put up the chargesheet for consideration on August 25.
‘Character assassination’
In the application filed through their advocate Mohd Irshad, the accused persons said the investigating agency was selectively leaking excerpts of the chargesheet to the media to assassinate the character of the accused persons mentioned in it, especially Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Sisodia.
The matter is sub judice and the agency has no power to pass on the content of the chargesheet before the court takes cognisance of it, the application said.
“The act and conduct of the probe agency is an interference in the administration of justice as their only intention is to create hype in the media and to influence the proceedings so that the image of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister is adversely affected,” the application added.
“If the probe agency was not restrained from making uncalled for, unwarranted and biased comments against the two constitutional authorities, CM and Deputy CM, it would cause irreparable loss to their image and the proceedings in the case would also be affected,” it alleged.