2 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Apr 21, 2026 11:05 AM IST
Delhi High Court’s Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma took over 50 minutes to read out the verdict in Arvind Kejriwal’s case in the open court on Monday, well after court hours, starting at around 6:10 pm. Earlier in the day, despite a time-fixed matter at 2:30 pm involving Congress leader Sonia Gandhi where legal bigwigs, including senior advocates A M Singhvi, Kapil Sibal and ASG S V Raju were in the courtroom physically, the court declared its inability to hear the matter as she had to pen the verdict, and thus did not sit post-lunch hours. In the end, well past 7:30 pm, when Justice Sharma concluded her verdict, someone in the courtroom thanked her for putting in the gruelling hours for delivering the verdict, especially since it was her birthday.
Clearing The Air
Trying to set the “narrative straight” on the issue of women’s reservation and delimitation, the Congress will start holding press conferences across the country from Tuesday. Sources say around 25 press briefings by senior leaders and spokespersons — all women — in major cities across India will be organised on Tuesday. The party communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh held a training session on Monday where he instructed the leaders to do a thorough research on the subject for better understanding. On the line to be taken on the subject, the leaders were told to read a recent piece by Sonia Gandhi and watch the press conference by Priyanka Gandhi. The Congress is also planning district-level press conferences in the coming days to counter the BJP’s narrative that the main Opposition party is ‘anti-women’.
In The Offing
Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golchha is keen on instituting a new award to recognise “good and extraordinary work” by personnel, this time in collaboration with a reputed organisation. If all goes to plan, the ceremony could take place in the first week of July and Special Commissioners are finalising the details. Insiders say the goal is to boost morale and improve the public image of the force.
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