Petition seeking ‘special interim bail’ for Arvind Kejriwal canceled

The court ordered: “The writ petition is dismissed with costs of Rs 75,000.”

New Delhi:

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a public interest litigation filed by a law student seeking “special interim bail” for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with costs of Rs 75,000. Arvind Kejriwal is in judicial custody in connection with the GST scam.

A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan said the petition was “completely false” and the court could not grant “special interim bail” to a person holding a senior position.

“Is he (the petitioner) attending classes in college? He does not appear to be adhering to legal principles,” Justice Manmeet PS Arora said.

The court observed that the AAP leader had the capacity to take steps to avail legal remedies and the petitioner did not have power of attorney to submit on his behalf.

“This person is acting in accordance with the law. Who are you? You have some exaggerated view of yourself. You say you have veto power. You will make an undertaking (to ensure that Kejriwal does not influence witnesses),” the court said.

The court stressed that the concepts of equality and rule of law are enshrined in the Constitution and Kejriwal was detained in judicial custody on the basis of an unchallenged judicial order.

The court ordered: “The writ petition is dismissed with costs of Rs 75,000.”

Kejriwal’s senior counsel Rahul Mehra said the PIL was an “ambush” suit and was not maintainable and the petitioner had no location.

The petitioner’s counsel sought “special interim bail” for the Delhi chief minister on the ground that his security was at risk as he was lodged with hardcore criminals. The PIL said that in order to discharge the duties of chief minister, Kejriwal must be physically present at his office and home to take quick decisions on all issues and pass orders for the benefit of the public at large.

The petitioner, a law student, referred to himself as “we, the people of India” in his plea, claiming that he did not want to gain any name, fame or money from the matter.

The petition also stated that the petitioner “decided to use his ‘veto power’ to release Kejriwal on special interim bail in all criminal cases filed against him by the ED and CBI until he term and trial ended.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)