On Monday, the Delhi High Court issued a stay on the summons sent to Sunita Kejriwal, the wife of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. This comes in response to a case alleging her violation of the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, by being enrolled in the voter lists for two different constituencies.
Justice Amit Bansal presided over the order and declared that the stay on the trial court’s decision will be in effect until February 1, 2024, when the case is scheduled for its next hearing.
The Court stated, “Issue notice. In the meanwhile, there shall be a stay on the impugned order till the next date of hearing.”
The summons to Sunita Kejriwal were originally issued by Metropolitan Magistrate Arjinder Kaur of the Tis Hazari Court on August 29, 2023. This action was taken following a complaint by Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Harish Khurana in 2019. Khurana alleged that Sunita Kejriwal’s voter registration in both Sahibabad (Ghaziabad constituency) and Chandni Chowk in Delhi violated Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act. He also claimed that she could be penalized under Section 31 of the Act, which pertains to making false declarations.
Sunita Kejriwal challenged the summons in court, and Senior Advocate Rebecca John represented her. John argued that the complaint lacked evidence of a false declaration, which is a prerequisite for an offense under the Representation of People Act. She contended that the magistrate should have verified with the election commission before issuing the summons since this was a private complaint.
Conversely, the State’s counsel argued that the complaint was time-barred. After weighing these arguments, the Court decided to stay the trial court’s order.