India
The petition argued that 'the people of the state have a right to be governed under the law by truthful elected representatives and not those who are indulged in criminal acts and serious criminal charges framed by the trial court. Thus, the chief minister has no legal/constitutional right to continue as a chief minister of NCT of Delhi'
New Delhi: A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed on Monday before the Delhi high court for the immediate removal of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. The matter has been listed for Tuesday.
The PIL was filed by a person named Harinath Ram, through advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, on the grounds mainly of conflict of interest.
MyNation reached out to the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Dilip Pandey through several phone calls and text messages, but received no response.
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The petition argued that “the people of the state have a right to be governed under the law by truthful elected representatives and not those who are indulged in criminal acts and serious criminal charges framed by the trial court. Thus, the chief minister has no legal/constitutional right to continue as a chief minister of NCT of Delhi.”
The petition cited the FIR and the ongoing case of alleged assault on former Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash when he was serving in that capacity.
As grounds, the petition further said that Kejriwal be stripped of his position “Because, the chief minister of NCT of Delhi is still continuing as chief minister even after having been under the constructive custody of the trial court” in the case.
The petition also argued that “the chief minister’s duty is exposed to defending his own case by taking legal help of his own government prosecutorial department as such there is clear cut conflict of interest and such situation would not serve the constitutional obligation enjoined on the chief minister”.
The petitioner has argued that a magistrate “has taken cognisance against the chief minister on a prima facie ground under the serious charges, hence the chief minister has not legal/constitutional right to continue”.
The counsel of the petitioner has asked the court to issue appropriate writ directing the Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to remove Kejriwal as chief minister.
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