Delhi High Court on Tuesday said senior lawyers would be appointed as amici curiae to assist the court after AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Durgesh Pathak chose to boycott proceedings before Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, who is dealing with the CBI’s appeal against their discharge in the liquor policy case.
“I will appoint an amicus. I will appoint somebody. I will appoint three seniors in this case,” Justice Sharma said.
Amicus curiae is a person appointed to assist the court or to appear for the unrepresented parties concerned.
The development comes after Kejriwal and his two party colleagues declined to appear before Justice Sharma, who had refused to recuse from hearing the case.
“I will pass an order on amicus and then start hearing,” Justice Sharma said, deferring the matter for further hearing on Friday.
During the hearing, solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, pointed out that Kejriwal and others remained unrepresented in the proceedings and sought clarifications on whether the court was appointing some lawyers for AAP leaders.
Last week, Kejriwal, Sisodia and Pathak wrote to Justice Sharma, informing her of their decision not to appear for further proceedings in the case as a form of “Satyagraha”.
The letter came a week after Justice Sharma refused to recuse herself from the case.