SC dismisses plea seeking removal of Arvind Kejriwal as Delhi CM

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court dismissed a plea on Monday seeking the removal of Arvind Kejriwal as the Chief Minister of Delhi because of his arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in connection with the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said it cannot go into such issues and it is up to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi to look into it.

The bench said, "How should we go into all this? Let the LG take action if he wants to... there is no legal right."

Last week, the bench granted interim bail to Kejriwal in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha election in Delhi on June 1. The bench, however, said that Kejriwal cannot discharge the functions of the Chief Minister, sign any official files, or use the Chief Minister's Office.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court dismissed pleas seeking directions to remove Arvind Kejriwal as Chief Minister of Delhi following his arrest by the central agency. Petitioner before it was attempting to drag the court into a political thicket, the Delhi HC had said.

The Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) national convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal received a big relief from the Supreme Court, which on Friday (May 10) granted him interim bail till June 1 in the alleged money laundering case linked to Delhi's excise policy.

He spent over 50 days in Tihar Jail after being arrested by the ED in connection with the case on March 21, days after the election schedule for the general elections was announced.

The bail is applicable til June 1, and Kejriwal must surrender to authorities on June 2. The Delhi CM can participate in poll campaigning but cannot attend his office as Chief Minister.

The Lok Sabha elections in Delhi's seven parliamentary constituencies will be held in a single phase on May 25. The counting of votes will take place on June