The Delhi High Court on Monday imposed a cost of Rs 75,000 on a petitioner, rejecting his public interest litigation (PIL) seeking "extraordinary interim bail" for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in all criminal cases against him.
The PIL was filed seeking Kejriwal's release until he completes his tenure in office or until the trials are complete in the cases.
While rejecting the petition, the court observed that the petition lacked basis and the petitioner wasn't authorised by Kejriwal to file such a PIL.
According to Bar and Bench, a Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora expressed its view on the matter, stating that Kejriwal himself is capable of filing the case and proceedings, which he has done before in both the High Court and the Supreme Court. Therefore, no relaxation of the concept of locus standi is called for.
The court also stated that Kejriwal is in jail under judicial custody pursuant to a court order, and a PIL petition against the same is not maintainable.
Notably, similar petitions filed earlier had been dismissed by the Court, and the last such petition was rejected with costs of Rs 50,000.
According to reports, Advocate Rahul Mehra, representing Delhi CM, also opposed the petition, calling it 'complete publicity interest litigation.'
On this, the petitioner argued that the petition was in the name of "We The People of India" because he has no intention to attract publicity.
The advocate representing the petitioner argued before the Court that if Kejriwal gets acquitted, the judges cannot give back the time that he spends in jail.
Safety concerns were also raised by the petitioners.
Kejriwal, who was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged excise scam, is lodged in Tihar's Jail No-2.
