LI Network
Published on: November 06, 2023 at 17:03 IST
The Delhi High Court has temporarily halted the issuance of summons to Sunita Kejriwal, the wife of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a case involving an alleged violation of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The case pertains to her enrollment as a voter in two different constituencies.
Justice Amit Bansal issued the order, stipulating that the stay on the trial court’s decision will remain in effect until February 1, 2024, which is the next hearing date.
The Court directed, “Issue notice. In the meanwhile, there shall be a stay on the impugned order until the next date of hearing.”
The summons to Sunita Kejriwal were initially issued by Metropolitan Magistrate Arjinder Kaur of the Tis Hazari Court on August 29, 2023.
This decision came in response to a complaint filed by Harish Khurana, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Delhi. In 2019, Khurana alleged that Sunita Kejriwal was registered as a voter in both the Sahibabad constituency (Ghaziabad) and Chandni Chowk in Delhi, which he contended was a violation of Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act. Additionally, he argued that she could be penalized under Section 31 of the Act, which addresses false declarations.
Sunita Kejriwal challenged the summons in court. Senior Advocate Rebecca John, representing the petitioner, argued that under the Representation of People Act, an offense is only established if an individual submits a false declaration.
In this case, Khurana had not provided any evidence to support a false declaration. John also contended that the summons had been issued without due consideration.
“This is a private complaint. The magistrate, before issuing summons, the least he could have done was check with the election commission,” John asserted.
Conversely, the State’s counsel informed the Court that the complaint was time-barred.