New Delhi: Special MP/MLA court judge Jitendra Singh is known to be a tough judge who passes strong judgments. The judgments are also strongly worded and do not spare anyone, neither the accused nor the investigating agency. Justice Singh is now in the news for granting a clean chit to AAP convener and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other accused in the Delhi Excise Policy case.
Earlier cases handled by judge Singh
Judge Singh had earlier passed an order against Delhi’s Law Minister Kapil Mishra, tossing out his plea against a magistrate’s order. Mishra had challenged summons issued to him in an online hate speech case.
Passing the order against the Minister, Justice Singh observed that Mishra’s speech “appeared to be a brazen attempt to promote enmity on grounds of religion.” This strongly worded order of the court, came as a surprise to many people. Justice Jitendra Singh highlighted the fact that the word “Pakistan” was very “skilfully woven into the speech by Mishra” and directed at creating communal polarisation and garnering votes.
Earlier in November 2024, the judge had ordered the release of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in a money laundering case. The case related to alleged irregularities in the working and appointments at the Delhi Waqf during Khan’s chairmanship.
He ordered the release of Khan and the ED case, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) fell flat. The judge refused to entertain the ED’s plea citing lack of requisite sanction under the Section 197 (1) of the Act.
He also dismissed a defamation case filed by AAP’s Satyendra Jain against BJP’s Bansuri Swaraj. In his order, he noted that Swaraj did not make any defamatory remarks against Jain but only echoed ED’s statements in a case against the AAP leader.
Judgment in Excise Policy Case
In the present case, Justice Singh has discharged all 23 accused, including Delhi’s former CM Arvind Kejriwal and his Deputy, Manish Sisodia. Once again making sharp observations, Singh pulled up the CBI’s shoddy investigation.
He noted that the investigating agency failed to establish even a prima facie case against the accused persons. He cited that there was no concrete evidence presented in court by the agency and that the case relied just on conjectures.
Justice Jitendra Singh is a special judge at the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi. He is a senior judicial officer of the Delhi Higher Judicial Service and was appointed as an additional sessions judge in October 2024.