In 2024, big news in Delhi’s courts centered around former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the excise policy case. Kejriwal, the first sitting Chief Minister in India to be arrested, was taken in by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21. He was held for questioning and later granted bail on June 20 because the ED couldn’t provide strong evidence against him. But on June 21, the Delhi High Court blocked his bail at the ED’s request.
On June 26, Kejriwal was arrested again, this time by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) related to the same case. His legal troubles continued until he was finally released from jail after receiving help from the Supreme Court on July 12 for the ED case and on September 13 for the CBI case.
Another significant arrest was that of K Kavitha, a leader from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, who was arrested by the ED and CBI. She received bail from the Supreme Court on August 27.
In a separate case, three people were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of photographer Ankit Saxena in 2018. In May, a court started looking into cases against Prabir Purkayastha, founder of Newsclick.
Former Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Singh faced serious accusations from women wrestlers. A court made charges against him on May 21 but he pleaded not guilty.
Medha Patkar, a leader from the Narmada Bachao Andolan, was sentenced in a longstanding defamation case but had her sentence suspended. Another Congress leader, Karti Chidambaram, was granted bail recently in the Chinese visa scam case.
In September, Jagdish Tytler faced new charges related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and the complications continued with Engineer Rashid, who sat in jail but also campaigned in the 2024 elections.
Various other cases also saw developments, including the “land-for-jobs” case involving former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad and his family, all of whom received bail. Satyendar Jain, a leader from AAP, got bail after serving 18 months in jail.
The legal scene will be exciting to watch as more cases proceed to trial in 2025!
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