New Delhi: Four days after Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal passed his first order from prison, Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena has said that the government “won’t be run from jail”.
Saxena was addressing a public event on Wednesday (March 27) when he made the remark.
However, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has said no constitutional provision prevents Kejriwal from carrying out his duties while being in the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) custody.
Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 – hours after the Election Commission published electoral bonds data on its website – in connection with the liquor policy case. The ED has alleged that Kejriwal accepted kickbacks from certain liquor vendors in return for favours under the now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.
In response to the orders issued by Kejriwal from jail premises, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva filed a complaint with Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora on Wednesday.
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In two separate orders, Kejriwal had asked Delhi Ministers to deal with the shortage of medicines at Delhi government hospitals and with water supply-related problems in parts of the capital, the Hindu report said.
While Sachdeva demanded an investigation into the “illegal” orders, AAP maintained that Kejriwal won’t resign from his post.
BJP ‘conspiring’ to impose president’s rule
Meanwhile, Delhi finance minister and AAP leader Atishi accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of conspiring to impose president’s rule in Delhi.
Citing the Representation of People Act, 1951, she said the chief minister can only be stopped from issuing orders if they are no longer a member of the Assembly following conviction in a case in which the duration of sentence is two years or above, the Hindu reported.
“This does not apply to a person who is only an accused and has not been adjudged as guilty by a court of law,” she said, adding that the mere arrest of the chief minister can’t be grounds for imposition of President’s Rule.
“It is clearly a political conspiracy on the part of the BJP. First, the chief minister was arrested in a fake case, and then they [BJP] demanded his resignation for disrespecting the people’s mandate. And if he doesn’t resign, they will threaten to impose president’s rule,” she said.
According to the Hindu, Atishi said that president’s rule can only be imposed if the ruling party loses the majority in the Assembly. “The apex court has repeatedly said that the president’s rule can be imposed only if there is no other choice left for the governance of a state,” she added.
