Delhi gets relief, others swelter

Citing lack of faith in the fairness of the process, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday that he will no longer participate personally or through legal counsel in the proceedings before Justice Swarn Kanta Sharma of the Delhi High Court in a pending case.

In a letter to the judge, Kejriwal said the proceedings in the Delhi Excise Policy case “do not satisfy the basic principle that justice should not only be done but justice should also be seen to be done.”

“My participation in these proceedings, whether on my own or through a lawyer, will not achieve anything meaningful,” Kejriwal said.

Why did Kejriwal ask Justice Sharma to step down?

Kejriwal reiterated the allegations raised in the previous hearing petition, which referred to Justice Sharma’s alleged public association with a group linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ideological parent, the right-wing Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Expressing fear of bias, he said that he and his party are ideological opponents of RSS.

The former Delhi Chief Minister also pointed to the alleged conflict of interest arising from the judge’s family members serving on the Indian government’s legal panel while the central government and the CBI were opposing parties in his case.

He said the rejection of his earlier recusal request had deepened his concerns and left him unable to expect a fair trial.

Kejriwal said, “I must also say that the decision refusing to hear has become an additional and independent reason for me to lose faith in the fairness of the further proceedings before this bench.”

The extreme heat wave affecting Delhi is expected to subside in the next few days, with temperatures expected to drop and some respite expected, India’s weather office said.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted thunderstorm and rain in Delhi on April 28 and 29. The capital remained warm on Monday, with the maximum temperature hovering around 42.1 degrees Celsius.

Last week, the IMD had issued a yellow heat warning for New Delhi. Heat wave is declared when the maximum temperature exceeds 40 degrees.

The agency said no major change is expected in Delhi’s maximum temperature in the next 24 hours, followed by a drop of 4-6 degrees Celsius in the next three days.

Temperatures exceeded 45 degrees Celsius at many places across North India last week.

States including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Odisha recorded above normal temperatures, with many districts facing hot to extremely hot conditions.

According to IMD, the temperature in Akola in western Maharashtra reached 46.9 degrees Celsius on Sunday.

“Scorching conditions will continue over parts of northwest and central India for the next 3 days,” the IMD said on Sunday.

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hello! I’m Shakeel from DW’s New Delhi studio, bringing you the latest updates from across India.

There is hope of respite from the record-breaking heat in the coming days, which has taken the temperature above 45 degrees Celsius. North India has had to bear the brunt of extreme conditions.

Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has refused to appear in court after expressing no confidence in the judge handling his case, deepening his standoff with the judiciary.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal’s former party colleague Raghav Chadha has responded to the protests over his decision to join BJP.

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