A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said it cannot go into such issues and it is up to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi to look into it….reports Asian Lite News
The Supreme Court dismissed a plea on Monday seeking the removal of Arvind Kejriwal as the Chief Minister of Delhi because of his arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in connection with the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said it cannot go into such issues and it is up to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi to look into it.
The bench said, “How should we go into all this? Let the LG take action if he wants to… there is no legal right.”
Last week, the bench granted interim bail to Kejriwal in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha election in Delhi on June 1. The bench, however, said that Kejriwal cannot discharge the functions of the Chief Minister, sign any official files, or use the Chief Minister’s Office.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court dismissed pleas seeking directions to remove Arvind Kejriwal as Chief Minister of Delhi following his arrest by the central agency. Petitioner before it was attempting to drag the court into a political thicket, the Delhi HC had said.
The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) national convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal received a big relief from the Supreme Court, which on Friday (May 10) granted him interim bail till June 1 in the alleged money laundering case linked to Delhi’s excise policy.
He spent over 50 days in Tihar Jail after being arrested by the ED in connection with the case on March 21, days after the election schedule for the general elections was announced.
The bail is applicable til June 1, and Kejriwal must surrender to authorities on June 2. The Delhi CM can participate in poll campaigning but cannot attend his office as Chief Minister.
The Lok Sabha elections in Delhi’s seven parliamentary constituencies will be held in a single phase on May 25. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.
SC extends stay on defamation case against Delhi CM
The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday adjourned to August a plea filed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over a defamation case for retweeting a video of a YouTuber making allegations against BJP IT Cell.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta adjourned the case to August 12. The apex court also extended the stay granted earlier on the proceedings of the case before the trial court.
Earlier, the bench had granted a stay on the trial court’s proceedings in the defamation case against Kejriwal over retweeting a video.
The apex court then granted more time to the complainant in the criminal defamation case against Kejriwal to discuss with him the modalities of an apology that would close the case.
On February 26, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for Kejriwal submitted before the apex court that retweeting the video, which was allegedly defamatory, circulated by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in 2018 was a “mistake”.
The apex court had then directed the trial court not to proceed with the defamation case against him for the time being.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief had approached the apex court challenging the February 5 order of the Delhi High Court refusing to quash the summons issued against him. The High Court had said that reposting alleged libellous content would attract defamation law.
The summons was issued in a defamation complaint lodged against him for retweeting a video of a YouTuber on the social media platform ‘X’.
Singhvi had told the apex court, “There is no problem in admitting that this was a mistake if he had known that these would be the consequences.”
The bench had then asked the complainant in the case to take instructions if the case could be closed based on Kejriwal’s admitting to the mistake.
A defamation complaint was filed against Kejriwal for retweeting a video by a YouTuber in 2018 accusing the account holder of an X (formerly Twitter) page called ‘I Support Narendra Modi’ of behaving like ‘BJP IT Cell Part II’. Kejriwal retweeted the post, which led to the account holder moving a defamation complaint against the Delhi CM.
Vikas Sankrityayan, the complainant, asserted that the YouTube video with the title ‘BJP IT Cell Part II’ circulated by Rathee from Germany, contained false and defamatory allegations. (ANI)
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