Informist, Friday, Sep 6, 2024

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court today questioned the counsel for the Delhi government whether there was any rule that prevented Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from dealing with files relating to the grant of remission to prisoners while he was in jail in Delhi liquor policy case. The court's remark came after the Delhi government's counsel said that the remission files can't be forwarded to the Lieutenant Governor unless signed by the chief minister, who was currently in jail.

"Is there any restraint order on Honourable Chief Minister performing his duties from jail? We want to examine this because this will affect hundreds of cases. So many files would be there as various orders are passed by the court concerning the Chief Minister. Whether there is any restraint on the Chief Minister signing such important files?" asked the apex court. "Whether there is any prohibition on the Chief Minister dealing with files of premature release while he himself is detained in a case?" the court added.

Asking Delhi government's response, the top court said "You have to (inform if there is any rule in place), else we will have to exercise our powers under Article 142 of Constitution of India because these matters cannot be stalled like this".

Kejriwal is currently in jail in the Delhi liquor policy case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation. While the top court had granted interim bail to Kejriwal in the Enforcement Directorate, it had reserved its order on the chief minister’s bail plea in the CBI case. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate and CBI on Mar 21 and Jun 26, respectively.

The apex court, in the current case, was hearing a plea by one Harpreet Singh. In May, the Delhi government had told the apex court that the concerned board was considering Singh’s case for grant of permanent remission. Thereafter, the top court had asked the Delhi government to take appropriate decisions within two months. In July, the court had again extended the time given to the Delhi government by a month. Singh is currently released on furlough on orders from the apex court in May. End

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

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