On Monday, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea seeking the removal of Arvind Kejriwal from his position as Delhi’s chief minister due to his arrest in the excise policy case.
The apex court clarified that while it may involve propriety, there is no legal basis for demanding Kejriwal’s removal as chief minister following his arrest. Additionally, the Supreme Court stated that it is within the discretion of Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena to take action if deemed necessary, but the court said, “We will not interfere.”
This ruling from the Supreme Court comes shortly after it granted interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal last Friday, enabling him to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections until June 1, as the validity of his arrest is still being deliberated.
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The bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta directed Kejriwal to surrender on June 2 and imposed restrictions preventing him from accessing the chief minister’s office and the Delhi secretariat as conditions for his bail.
The court emphasized that the granting of interim bail is a common practice and is determined on a case-by-case basis. This decision provided significant support to the election campaign of the Aam Aadmi Party, which is contesting seats in Punjab and Delhi in alliance with the Congress. Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP’s national convenor, was arrested on March 21 in connection with the Delhi liquor policy scam case, and he has challenged the validity of his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate.