Kailash Gahlot, who is now a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from the Bijwasan constituency, had filed this petition in 2022. The case was related to the denial of permission for then-Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to attend the 8th World Cities’ Summit in Singapore that year.
NEW DELHI: Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister Kailash Gahlot withdrew his petition from the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, February 12, 2025. The petition challenged the rule that requires state government ministers, including the Chief Minister, to get political clearance from the Central Government before traveling abroad.
During the hearing, Gahlot’s lawyer informed Justice Sachin Datta that he wished to withdraw the case.
Following this, the court noted, “The petition is dismissed as withdrawn.”
Background
Kailash Gahlot, who is now a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from the Bijwasan constituency, had filed this petition in 2022. The case was related to the denial of permission for then-Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to attend the 8th World Cities’ Summit in Singapore that year.
The petition highlighted that this was not an isolated incident. It also pointed out that Gahlot himself had faced a similar issue when he sought clearance to visit London upon the invitation of Transport for London. However, he never received a response from the Central Government, and by the time the matter could be decided, the visit had become “infructuous.”
The petition sought proper guidelines for the implementation of multiple Office Memoranda issued by the Cabinet Secretariat. These memoranda empower the Central Government to approve or deny foreign visits by state government ministers in their official capacity.
The plea stated, “The whimsical and capricious manner in which travel clearances for Indian statespersons are treated is prejudicial not just to the interests of good urban governance in this case, but also national interests in global platforms generally.”
The petition further argued that the Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) had acted beyond his jurisdiction by advising against Arvind Kejriwal’s Singapore visit.
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It claimed that the Centre’s “actual exercise of the powers conferred by the Office Memoranda above noted has been manifestly arbitrary and reflects unchanneled and unbridled use of discretion on part of the respondents.”
In November 2024, Kailash Gahlot resigned as Delhi’s Transport Minister. Soon after, he joined the BJP and successfully contested the Delhi Assembly elections from the Bijwasan constituency.
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