Delhi High Court rejects PIL seeking media gag on Arvind Kejriwal speculations

New Delhi, May 8

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to restrain media houses from running “sensational headlines” speculating on CM Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation and imposition of President’s rule in the Capital.

The PIL was moved by advocate Shrikant Prasad, who had sought permission for Kejriwal to run the government from jail. It also requested arrangements for Kejriwal to interact with Cabinet ministers through video conferencing.

The Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora dismissed the PIL with Rs 1 lakh costs to be deposited by Prasad to AIIMS.

The PIL also sought to restrain Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva from exerting any “undue pressure” for resignation of Kejriwal and to initiate action against him for gathering illegal assembly for protest at DDU Marg on April 10.

The court observed that Kejriwal has already filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court challenging his arrest by the ED.

Dismissing the plea, the court said it couldn’t impose censorship by directing the media not to air views, nor can it gag political opponents from making statements calling for Kejriwal’s resignation.

The plea alleged that Sachdeva was arranging tremendous pressure by holding mass-level protests, affecting traffic and peace with politically motivated malafides.

The court observed that neither the Constitution nor any law prohibits ministers, including the Chief Minister, from running the government from jail.