May 13 (Punjab Khabarnama) : The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition demanding the removal of Arvind Kejriwal as the Delhi chief minister because of his arrest in the excise policy case. The apex court said it is a matter of propriety, but there is no legal right seeking the removal of Arvind Kejriwal as chief minister following his arrest.
The Supreme Court also said it is up to Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena to act if he wants to but “we will not interfere”.
The Supreme Court ruling comes days after it, on Friday last week, granted interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal for campaign in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 till June 1, saying since the matter related to the validity of his arrest was still under consideration.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta has ordered Arvind Kejriwal to surrender on June 2 and barred him from visiting the chief minister’s office and the Delhi secretariat as a condition for his bail.
The court said, “Power to grant interim bail is commonly exercised in a number of cases. Interim bail is granted in the facts of each case. This case is not an exception.”
The order came as a big boost to the poll campaign for the Aam Aadmi Party, which is contesting all the seats in Punjab and four seats in Delhi, in alliance with the Congress.
Arvind Kejriwal, the national convenor of the AAP, was arrested on March 21 in the Deljhi liquor policy scam case. He has challenged the validity of his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate.
