Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
– Photo: Amar Ujala
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The Delhi High Court on Monday strongly reprimanded Sandeep Kumar, a former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA, who had demanded the removal of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, accused in an excise case. The court said that two petitions on the same issue have already been dismissed and this is just to gain publicity. In such a situation, heavy fine should be imposed on them.
Justice Subramaniam Prasad criticized petitioner Sandeep Kumar for filing the petition, saying similar cases were heard and dismissed by the bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan Singh and the present petition is nothing but a publicity interest litigation. He transferred the petition to the bench of the Acting Chief Justice, saying that bench had heard similar petitions earlier also. Recently, the bench had transferred the petitions to itself, directing all similar cases to be heard together.
This is the third petition to remove Kejriwal from the post of CM. Earlier on March 28, the High Court had dismissed a PIL filed by a person named Surjeet Singh Yadav. The High Court had then said that it is the job of the executive and the President to investigate this issue and the court cannot interfere in it. Subsequently, on April 4, the court refused to entertain another PIL filed by Vishnu Gupta, who is the president of Hindu Sena. The court said that it will be Kejriwal’s personal decision whether he will remain the CM or not.
The bench had remarked that sometimes, personal interest has to be subordinated to national interest but this is his (Kejriwal’s) personal decision. The third petition, a writ petition, was filed by Sandeep Kumar, stating that Kejriwal continues to hold the post of Chief Minister of Delhi despite being incompetent which not only gives rise to several constitutional complications but also violates the right to life of the people. Also violates the guarantee.