Supreme Court to take a call on whether CM Arvind Kejriwal violated law

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two public interest litigations seeking action against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and law minister Somnath Bharti, who led a two-day sit-in protest in the heart of the city that ended on Tuesday.

The petitioners, both lawyers, said the chief minister was acting in violation of law by holding the protest while also occupying the top executive position in Delhi. The ministers’ oath to uphold the Constitution mandates them to uphold the rule of law, and not disrupting law and order, the petitioners said. A threejudge bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam will hear the PILs on Friday.

Kejriwal started the protest on Monday against the Union home ministry's refusal to punish five Delhi Police officials whom his AAP accuses of “misconduct” and “failure to carry out public duty”. He also wanted control of Delhi Police to be transferred to the local administration. AAP called off the protest on Tuesday evening after the Centre agreed to send the police officials on compulsory leave.