Supreme Court on Kejriwal: We can’t ask Delhi CM to resign

The Supreme Court said on Friday (July 12) that it cannot ask Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to resign on the strength of his links to a money laundering case or stop him from functioning as an elected leader.

"We are conscious Arvind Kejriwal is an elected leader and the chief minister of Delhi... a post holding importance and influence,” the court said while giving him interim bail in the case.

“We do not give any direction... as we are doubtful if a court can direct an elected leader to step down or not to function as a chief minister or a minister... We leave it to Arvind Kejriwal to make the call."

Kejriwal’s stand

Since his arrest, Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have rejected calls from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to resign, saying he was arrested in a fake case only so that he would quit his post.

The AAP has also said Kejriwal has not been convicted and claimed the charges against him were untrue and unsubstantiated.

In May too, the Supreme Court axed one such plea saying it had "no legal merit".

‘Arrest a conspiracy’

In May, while out on interim bail for election campaigning, Kejriwal explained that he refused to resign, despite the pressure, because it would set a precedent.

The government could then target other opposition leaders such as West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee.

"The chief minister's post is not important for me. I did not step down as the chief minister because a conspiracy was hatched to force me to resign on a fake case," he had said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Kejriwal over money laundering allegations while framing the Delhi liquor policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped.

Kejriwal and the AAP have rubbished the charges, pointing out that despite months of searching the ED has still not found the alleged bribe money.