The Delhi high court on Wednesday dismissed a plea seeking directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) for a mechanism to allow arrested politicians to campaign for polls through virtual conferencing, saying this would result in dreaded criminals floating political parties before elections.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora called the plea “highly adventurous” and “contrary to fundamental principles of law”. It added framing policies and laying down laws does not fall in its domain. “[Fugitive don] Dawood Ibrahim would form a political party and contest because he is not convicted…We cannot allow someone who is in custody to go on a campaign. Otherwise, all rape [accused], and murder [accused] will start floating political parties before the MCC [Model Code of Conduct],” the bench said.
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The court said it wants to stay away from politics. “…why are you involving us in the political thicket? Courts are applying their minds and the accused are exercising their rights… you are asking us to act contrary to the law..,” the bench told the lawyer representing the petitioner Amarjeet Gupta, a law student at Jamia Millia Islamia.
Gupta’s plea said the right of voters to be informed about Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s ideologies, plans, and programmes had been curtailed due to the arrest of its national convenor Arvind Kejriwal. It questioned the timing of Kejriwal’s arrest after the implementation of MCC and added it also vitiated the level playing field. The plea said the arrest curtailed Kejriwal’s right to campaign.
Gupta also sought a direction for the Union government to provide detailed information about the arrest of a party leader or a candidate immediately to the ECI.
The bench said an attempt was being made to involve the court when it was attempting to stay away from entering the political thicket. “This is all a little propaganda and little publicity involved in this. We understand what is happening. The attempt is to involve the court in politics. It has now become a part of the strategies. You are just being adventurous. It is a highly adventurous plea. You are asking the court to act contrary to law,” the bench said.
The high court last month dismissed pleas seeking Kejriwal’s removal as the chief minister saying that it would not enter this thicket when the lieutenant governor (L-G) was examining the issue. It said it was not the job of the courts to remove a chief minister and that it should not anticipate the actions of the L-G or the President of India, who had discretion in such matters.
The court also dismissed a plea seeking “extraordinary interim bail” for Kejriwal in all criminal cases registered against him in connection with the alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped 2021-22 Delhi excise policy while slapping a ₹75,000 fine on the petitioner.
