Achi news desk-
GUWAHATI: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed today by a Delhi resident in the Delhi High Court seeking the removal of Arvind Kejriwal as Delhi Chief Minister after his recent arrest.
Kejriwal was earlier arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the liquor policy money laundering case yesterday, while the hearing of the ED’s plea seeking his arrest is currently underway at Delhi’s Rosa Avenue court.
Several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ministers and spokespersons have stated in the media that the Delhi CM will not resign from his post and will instead run the government from jail, if necessary.
Also Read: Kejriwal to continue as Delhi CM, to run govt from jail: AAP
However, a Delhi resident named Surjit Singh Yadav, who also claims to be a farmer and social worker, filed a report in the Delhi High Court arguing that a chief minister accused of a financial scandal should not be allowed to continue in public. office.
The litigant further stated in the PIL that Kejriwal’s continuation as CM will not only lead to the obstruction of fair trial proceedings and disrupt the course of justice, but will also lead to the collapse of the constitutional machinery in the country, as Kejriwal does not fulfill most of the criteria of Articles 163 and 164 of the Constitution of India.
"that the respondent no. 4 actually forfeited his position as Chief Minister of Accounts due to his arrest and when he was in custody he disabled himself from fulfilling the duties and responsibilities of being a public servant and as such he should not continue as Chief Minister," The PIL states, as reported in the media.
The PIL further stated that a jailed CM would not be able to carry out any business required by law, and if Kejriwal is allowed to do so, any material, regardless of its confidential nature, would have to be thoroughly scanned by the jail authorities before it reaches him and such an act would constitute a direct violation of the oath of secrecy administered to the CM under the Third Schedule of the Constitution.
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The application also states that the National Capital Government of Delhi Employment Rules, 1993, empowers a Sgt to request cases from any cabinet department, and if Kejriwal continues as CM, he will be within his rights to demand the investigation of cases in cases where he has been prosecuted as an accused, stating so "Such a situation is against the ethos of criminal jurisprudence."
The PIL then asked the High Court to issue a quo warranto order and call Kejriwal to answer by what authority he holds the post of CM and consequently remove him.
The Delhi CM’s arrest was widely criticized by opposition parties, who called the arrest the “death of democracy” while accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of abusing their power to harass rivals.
