In a relief to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Supreme Court on Tuesday dispensed with, for now, his personal appearance before an Amethi court in Uttar Pradesh in connection with a criminal case.
An apex court bench of Justice J. Chelameswar and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre suspended Kejriwal's appearance as senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan told the court there was no requirement of personal appearance and Kejriwal could be represented by his lawyer.
Dhavan cited high court judgments in support of his contention.
Issuing notice on Kejriwal's petition which challenged the Allahabad High Court order directing him to personally appear before it in Amethi, and seek exemption from personal appearance, the Supreme Court said Kejriwal's personal appearance was dispensed with till further orders.
The case before the Amethi court is rooted in Kejriwal's alleged inflammatory speech during the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign. Kejriwal was required to appear before the Amethi court on September 23.
The Aam Aadmi Party leader was alleged to have made an inflammatory speech on May 2, 2014 in Amethi, which eventually elected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to the Lok Sabha. The summons were issued to him on June 29, 2015.