New Delhi. The Delhi High Court has rejected a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking special dispensation for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to rule from jail. In the petition, a request has also been made to ban news related to President’s rule in Delhi. The court not only rejected the PIL but also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioner. Advocate Shrikant Prasad, who filed the PIL, had requested for special arrangements for Kejriwal to rule from Tihar jail, including video conferencing with MLAs and cabinet members.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan Singh and Justice Manmohan Arora imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Prasad and directed it to be deposited in the account of AIIMS. The court made many sharp comments while reprimanding the petitioner. The petition also sought to restrain the media from reporting news related to Kejriwal’s resignation and President’s rule in Delhi, which angered the court and questioned whether emergency or military rule should be imposed.
Kejriwal has been in jail since March 21 over the alleged liquor scam and the Aam Aadmi Party says he will not resign as CM and will continue to rule from jail. Earlier, a similar petition was filed in the High Court in which a demand was made to remove Kejriwal from the post of CM while he was in jail, but the court rejected it saying that the decision would have to be taken by Kejriwal or the LG and the President. Has to be done and the court cannot interfere in it.