The Delhi High Court, on Monday, indicated its intention to levy “heavy costs” on the petitioner in a case seeking to remove Arvind Kejriwal as Delhi’s Chief Minister. This decision came as the court transferred the plea, filed by former AAP MLA Sandeep Kumar following Kejriwal’s arrest by the ED in a money laundering case related to the excise policy, to a bench led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan. Justice Subramonium Prasad, part of the bench, noted that similar pleas had been heard and dismissed by the bench to which the matter was transferred.
The court scheduled the next hearing for April 10.
Justice Prasad remarked on the seeming publicity aspect of the case and emphasized that since similar matters had been handled by the Acting Chief Justice’s bench, this petition should follow suit.
After transferring the petition, Justice Prasad expressed a willingness to impose heavy costs on the petitioner. The petition by Sandeep Kumar argued that Kejriwal’s arrest by the ED rendered him unable to fulfill his duties as Chief Minister as per the Constitution. It highlighted the complications arising from Kejriwal’s “unavailability” and asserted that he couldn’t function as Chief Minister while in prison, as mandated by the Constitution.
