Is CM Arvind Kejriwal prohibited from doing his duty from jail, asks SC

The Supreme Court on Friday sought to know whether there was any restraint against Arvind Kejriwal from performing his duties as Delhi's CM from jail.

The query was put forth by a division bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih after it was apprised on Friday morning that remission cases were getting delayed due to the lack of signatures from the CM.

"Is there any restraint order against Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of Delhi, to not sign remission files from jail ... Whether there is any prohibition on the CM dealing with files of premature release while he himself is detained in a case?" the bench asked the Delhi government.


The bench further verbally observed: "We want to examine this because this will affect hundreds of cases. So many files would be there as various orders are passed by the court concerning the chief minister." The chief minister's signature is mandatory before a plea by a prisoner, seeking premature release, which reaches the office of the Lieutenant Governor in Delhi. The bench further told the counsel for Delhi government: "You have to (inform if there is any rule in place), else we will have to exercise our powers under Article 142 of Constitution of India because these matters cannot be stalled like this."

The bench was informed that there was no precedent on this issue. The SC posted the matter to September 23 for resumed hearing. Kejriwal is currently lodged in Tihar jail in connection with the arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for his alleged involvement in the Delhi excise case.

The SC had on Thursday reserved its verdict on Kejriwal's petitions seeking bail and challenging his arrest by the CBI.