The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition demanding the removal of Arvind Kejriwal as the Delhi chief minister because of his arrest in the excise policy case.
The apex court said it is a matter of propriety, but there is no legal right seeking the removal of Arvind Kejriwal as chief minister following his arrest.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
The bench also pointed out that the petitioner who approached the Supreme Court, Kant Bhati, was not the petitioner before the Delhi high court.
Arvind Kejriwal, the national convenor of the AAP, was arrested on March 21 in the Deljhi liquor policy scam case.
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition demanding the removal of Arvind Kejriwal as the Delhi chief minister because of his arrest in the excise policy case. The apex court said it is a matter of propriety, but there is no legal right seeking the removal of Arvind Kejriwal as chief minister following his arrest. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)
The bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta also said it is up to Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena to act if he wants to but “we will not interfere”. The bench also pointed out that the petitioner who approached the Supreme Court, Kant Bhati, was not the petitioner before the Delhi high court.
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“What is the legal right? Why should we go into all this? On propriety you may certainly have something to say but no legal right. Let the LG take action if he wants to....we are not inclined,” Live Law quoted Justice Khanna as saying to the petitioner.
"We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned judgment. The Special Leave Petition is dismissed," the bench dictated the order.
On April 10, the Delhi high court had rejected this PIL while imposing a cost of ₹50,000, being of the view that it was aimed at gaining publicity. It was noted that the petitioner pursued the petition despite being aware of three orders passed by the court denying identical prayers.
The Supreme Court ruling comes days after it, on Friday last week, granted interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal for campaign in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 till June 1, saying since the matter related to the validity of his arrest was still under consideration.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta has ordered Arvind Kejriwal to surrender on June 2 and barred him from visiting the chief minister's office and the Delhi secretariat as a condition for his bail.
The court said, "Power to grant interim bail is commonly exercised in a number of cases. Interim bail is granted in the facts of each case. This case is not an exception."
The order came as a big boost to the poll campaign for the Aam Aadmi Party, which is contesting all the seats in Punjab and four seats in Delhi, in alliance with the Congress.
Arvind Kejriwal, the national convenor of the AAP, was arrested on March 21 in the Deljhi liquor policy scam case. He has challenged the validity of his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate.
