The Delhi High Court on Monday has once again turned down a plea to remove Arvind Kejriwal as chief minister of Delhi and came down heavily on the petitioner. Kejriwal has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection to the Delhi excise policy scam.
Rejecting the petition, Justice Subramonium Prasad criticised former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Sandeep Kumar for filing the plea even though two similar petitions that were filed by others had already been rejected by the High Court earlier. "Heavy costs should be imposed on you," the court said. The judge also called the plea nothing but a publicity stunt.
This marks the third time such a plea has been rejected by the High Court. The court proceeded to transfer the matter to the bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan, who had previously dealt with similar petitions.
Kejriwal is presently in judicial custody as part of the ED case related to the excise policy. The court listed Kumar's plea for hearing on April 10, questioning the validity of issuing a writ of quo warranto against Kejriwal. This move comes after two previous pleas seeking Kejriwal's removal were rejected by a division bench led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan.
