No constitutional bar against Kejriwal continuing in office, say legal experts
Satya Prakash
New Delhi, March 22
As a Delhi court on Friday sent Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to six-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate following his arrest in a money-laundering case related to excise policy scam, legal experts said there was no legal bar against him continuing in office.
The experts, however, said it was a question of constitutional propriety if Kejriwal should quit or continue to hold the post of Delhi Chief Minister.
“So far as the Constitution is concerned, there is no provision that says a person arrested in a criminal case can’t hold the office of Chief Minister. He (Kejriwal) can continue…but it will be difficult for him to run the administration from prison as the jail manual would not allow him to have frequent meetings with his ministers and officials,” senior advocate Vikas Singh told The Tribune.
Singh, however, said, “It’s a question of constitutional propriety whether an arrested person should be holding a constitutional position such as the chief minister. It’s not an ideal situation as it undermines constitutional values.”
Former Lok Sabha Secretary General PDT Achary said, “Well, there is no constitutional bar against an arrested person continuing in office of Chief Minister so long as he or she has not been disqualified as a legislator. The Constitution does not have any such provision.”
Asked if Kejriwal should be running the affairs of Delhi while in custody, Achary said, “It’s for the political parties to consider what should be done in such a situation…Politics is an art of possibilities.”
AAP leader Satyendar Jain, who was Health Minister in Kenriwal’s Cabinet, had continued for several months as a minister even after his arrest on June 30, 2022 in a money laundering case. Another senior AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had, however, resigned within two days of his arrest on February 26, 2023. JMM leader Hemant Soren – who faces a money laundering probe – had resigned before his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31, 2024.
