‘His personal call’: Delhi HC refuses to entertain PIL to remove Arvind Kejriwal as CM

The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to entertain a public interest litigation seeking removal of Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in the liquor policy scam case, from the post of the chief minister.

“Let democracy take its own course,” said a division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan.

"At times, personal interest has to be subordinate to national interest but that is his personal call. We are a court of law and have to go by the law. Your remedy does not lie here, it lies elsewhere. You go before the competent forum," the court said.

The PIL was filed by Vishnu Gupta, a social worker and the national president of the Hindu Sena. His counsel argued that after Kejriwal’s arrest on March 21, there is an absolute lack of government in the national capital. 

The petitioner further claimed that if Kejriwal is guilty of constitutional breach of trust, he has no business to continue on the post of chief minister, and that someone else from the Aam Aadmi Party can be appointed on the post. 

The court, however, observe that this is a practical issue and not a legal issue. “We won't go into this. We will declare that the government is not functioning? Governor is fully competent. He does not need our guidance,” it said.

The court noted that it had dismissed a similar PIL recently and cannot not take a different view now.