Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to continue to hold position despite his arrest is his personal decision, says Delhi High Court.
Court says Kejriwal’s non-availability or non-formation of a Standing Committee cannot come in the way of the children studying in MCD schools from receiving their free text books, writing material and uniform.
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“National interest and public interest demands that no person who holds this post is incommunicado or absent for a long stretch of time or for an uncertain period time,” a division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan said.
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The court said that Delhi Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj’s statement that any increase in financial power of MCD Commissioner shall require the Chief Minister’s approval, amounts to an admission that the “Delhi Government, due to absence of the Chief Minister is at a standstill.”

The court said that Kejriwal’s personal decision to continue being the CM despite his arrest does not mean that if he is not available, the Fundamental Rights of young children would be trampled upon and they would go through the first term (1st April to 10th May) without free text books, writing material and uniform.

The bench directed MCD Commissioner to incur the expenditure required for fulfilling the said obligations forthwith without being constrained by the expenditure limit of Rs. Five crores.
However, the expenditure incurred by the Commissioner, MCD shall be subject to statutory audit, the court said.

Court: The inability of GNCTD to act with alacrity and respond to the urgency of the issue at hand, exhibits its indifference towards the plight of the students enrolled in MCD schools and is a wilful violation of the fundamental rights of the said students.