Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday.
New Delhi:
The Aam Aadmi Party has made it clear that Arvind Kejriwal will continue as Delhi chief minister despite his arrest in the liquor policy case. While there is no law that can prevent AAP leaders from running the country from jail, the jail guidelines will make this extremely difficult.
A former legal officer in Delhi’s Tihar Jail said an inmate could only hold two meetings a week, which would make it difficult for Kejriwal to discharge his duties as chief minister.
“Running a government from a jail is not easy. The jail manual states that you can only meet your family, friends or colleagues twice a week. So, it is not easy for him to govern under these restrictions,” Sunil Gupta told New Delhi Television.
But the official said there is a way for Kejriwal to continue as chief minister. The Lieutenant Governor has the power to convert any building into a jail and if Mr Kejriwal can be persuaded to put him under house arrest, it will help him participate in the day-to-day running of the Delhi government.
“The chief executive has the power to declare any building a prison,” Mr Gupta explained. This is similar to how court buildings were designated as temporary prisons in the past. He opined that such measures may be beneficial to Arvind Kejriwal in governing during the lockdown.
Former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, who was arrested in January over alleged land scams, was detained by the Enforcement Directorate after meeting the governor and resigning from office. The post of chief minister was handed over to party leader Champai Soren.
In 1998, Lalu Prasad Yadav, then chief minister of Bihar, was arrested in a fodder scam case and he handed over the crime to his wife Rabri Devi.
Mr Kejriwal was arrested after the Delhi High Court refused to grant him protection from arrest after skipping his arraignment for the ninth time in the liquor policy case.
After Kejriwal’s arrest on Thursday, AAP member Atishi, now the No. 2 person in the Delhi government, said there would be no change in the party’s leadership.
“Arvind Kejriwal is and will continue to be the chief minister of Delhi… there are no two ways about it,” Atish said.
But sources said the Union Home Ministry is studying the consequences of Kejriwal not resigning. Legal experts said the Center may have to suspend or remove him as he is a civil servant. This is also the procedure followed by arrested government officials. Sources said they were immediately suspended from service.
The excise tax abolition comes as part of a sweeping overhaul of the capital’s liquor industry, promising a more modern shopping experience with discounts and deals. However, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena ordered an investigation into the alleged irregularities, leading to the policy being withdrawn.
The ED reasoned that the Delhi Liquor Policy 2021-22 provides a very high profit margin of 12 per cent to wholesalers and nearly 185 per cent to retailers. Of the 12 per cent, 6 per cent was recovered from wholesalers as kickbacks to AAP leaders, while the ‘South Group’ allegedly paid in advance to another accused with links to AAP, Vijay Nair ) provided Rs.
A key focus of the Delhi liquor policy case investigation is the alleged network of middlemen, businessmen and politicians, which the central agency has dubbed the “Southern Group”.
Two prominent AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh have been placed in judicial custody in connection with the case. Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26 last year, while Rajya Sabha MP Singh was arrested by the Education Ministry on October 5.
