The Delhi High Court has declined to entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the removal of Arvind Kejriwal as Chief Minister. The bench called it personal interest, which sometimes yields national interest, but the court maintained that it is not in a position to decide on the matter.
NEW DELHI: Today (4th April): The Delhi High Court rejected a public interest litigation (PIL) petition that sought the removal of Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, from his post.
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A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora stated that it would be Kejriwal’s personal decision whether to continue as Chief Minister or not.
“At times, personal interest has to be subordinate to national interest but that is his (Kejriwal’s) personal call,”
Background
The Delhi High Court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition that sought the removal of Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, from his position. The petition, filed by Vishnu Gupta, president of Hindu Sena, called for Kejriwal’s removal based on his arrest in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy scam.
The petition, filed by Vishnu Gupta, president of the organization Hindu Sena, cited Kejriwal’s arrest in a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy scam as grounds for his removal. The court stated that it would be Kejriwal’s personal decision to continue as Chief Minister and emphasized that the matter should be decided by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi or the President of India.
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However, the court made it clear that it does not have the authority to decide the matter
“How can we declare that the government is not functioning? The LG is fully competent to decide it. He (LG) does not need our guidance. We are no one to advise him. He will do whatever he has to in accordance with law,” the Court said.
The court suggested that the petitioner is free to approach the President or the LG, as they are the competent authorities to decide the issue. Subsequently, the petitioner withdrew the plea.
The plea further stated that the Governor, in accordance with the Constitution, is a fundamental aspect of Indian parliamentary democracy, and if the Constitution is not functioning properly, a writ of Mandamus may be issued to the respondents to take appropriate actions to implement the Constitutional Scheme.
However, this is the second PIL seeking the removal of Kejriwal as Delhi Chief Minister that the High Court has dismissed. A similar PIL filed by Surjit Singh Yadav was rejected by the court on March 28. The court stated that it is the responsibility of the executive and the President to examine such matters, and the court cannot interfere in this regard.
In the PIL, Gupta sought directions to remove Kejriwal from the Chief Minister’s post effective from March 21, the day Kejriwal was arrested in the money laundering case. The petitioner argued that if the Chief Minister acts in a manner that violates the rule of law and breaches the constitutional trust placed in him, his dismissal from office is justified under Article 164 of the Indian Constitution.
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Gupta also alleged that the Government of NCT of Delhi has not been carrying out the provisions of Articles 154, 162, and 163 since March 21, as no cabinet meetings have taken place to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of executive functions.
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