The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL), which sought removal of Arvind Kejriwal from the post of Delhi Chief Minister following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his alleged involvement in the Delhi liquor policy scam case.
The Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora observed that it was for the executive and the President to examine the issue and the Court cannot interfere with the same.
The High Court asked whether there was any scope for judicial interference in the case. The Bench said it had read in today’s newspaper that the Delhi LG was examining the issue, which will then go before the President.
The High Court refused to pass any orders on the grounds that the issue pertained to a different wing.
Stating that it understood that there may be some practical difficulties, the Bench said it need not give any guidance to either the President or the LG.
It observed that the executive branch imposed the Presidential rule. There was no reason for the Court to guide them or interfere with the matter. It added that it was sure the Executive Bench was taking note of the developments.
The High Court further said that there was no legal bar in Kejriwal continuing as the CM, directing the petitioner to show the court what prohibited the Chief Minister from continuing.
If there was any constitutional failure, the President or Governor would act on it. It may take some time but they would decide this. The situation today has come up to something, which was not imagined earlier. However, there was no legal bar today, it added.
The Court also made it clear that it would not get into politics and the people would eventually decide these issues.
It noted that there was no scope for judicial interference vis- a-vis the relief sought for in the PIL and hence, dismissed it.
However, the Bench said it has not commented on the merits.
ED had arrested the Delhi Chief Minister from his residence on March 21, after questioning him for over two hours. He was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for his alleged involvement in the Delhi liquor policy scam.
On March 22, Special CBI judge Kaveri Baweja of the Rouse Avenue Courts sent Kejriwal to ED custody till March 28.
Appearing for the national agency, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju alleged that Kejriwal was the kingpin of the Delhi excise scam and was directly involved in the use of proceeds of crime accounting to over Rs 100 crore.
The ASG contended that even during the time of search on March 21, Kejriwal did not give correct facts.
The agency sought 10-day custody of the accused on the grounds that it needed confrontation to recover the money trail.