Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was not allowed to speak at an event held at an open area inside Dwarka Court on Friday.
Mr. Kejriwal was invited as a guest by the Dwarka Court Bar Association to speak on issues concerning lawyers and jurisdiction of police stations.
According to Jeetendra Solanki, additional secretary of the association, a large number of lawyers had gathered to listen to the AAP convenor outside the Chamber Complex. “As soon as he started speaking, four sessions judges arrived there and conveyed the district judge’s order that the event could not proceed further. Some of us protested, but Mr. Kejriwal himself insisted that the orders be followed,” said Mr. Solanki.
He questioned the order citing previous instances where politicians from other parties had addressed the bar members at the same venue. Mr. Solanki said there was no convention of obtaining a written permission for such events.
“Whenever we organise such events, we have to intimate the authorities concerned, which we did this time as well. So the withdrawal of permission came as a shock,” he said.
The venue was later shifted to the Seminar Hall of the association, where Mr. Kejriwal spoke for an hour. He assured lawyers that if voted to power, his government would transfer some of the police stations in South-West Delhi under the jurisdiction of Dwarka Court instead of the distant Patiala House in New Delhi.
Members of the Dwarka Court Bar Association said as a mark of protest, they would boycott all activities on Saturday.