A court in Delhi on Thursday extended by 14 days the judicial custody of Aam Aadmi Party MLAs Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal, who were arrested for allegedly assaulting Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash in February, PTI reported. The order was passed by Metropolitan Magistrate Shefali Barnala Tandon.

The case will be now be heard by a special court in the Patiala House Courts complex following a Delhi High Court order. The High Court had designated two special courts to deal with criminal cases against elected members of Parliament and legislative assemblies.

On March 1, the High Court had asked the city police to respond to Jarwal’s bail petition within a week and file a status report on the matter by March 7.

Delhi High Court’s direction to Assembly panel

The Delhi High Court on Thursday told an Assembly committee not to insist on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash appearing before it in connection with a complaint against him in a bank fraud case. The Question and Reference Committee’s move to issue a notice to the bureaucrat seemed like an attempt to circumvent the law, Justice Rajiv Shakdher observed.

The court had asked the Assembly’s Privileges Committee not to harass Prakash by sending him notices in connection with the matter. “You cannot harass a complainant like this,” Justice Mukta Gupta had said. “By hook or crook, the chief secretary is being harassed. Is it not a ground to reject the bail plea [of the AAP MLAs]?”