The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended its interim stay on the proceedings against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a case lodged against him for allegedly making objectionable remarks against the BJP and the Congress in UP during the 2014 Lok Sabha poll campaign.
Kejriwal has moved the apex court against an order of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court which declined to discharge him in the criminal case pending before a trial court at Sultanpur.
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti agreed to hear the appeal filed by Kejriwal.
The bench observed, “Let the interim order continue. What is all this? These are all irrelevant matters. It is not a matter for us to go into.”
Furthermore, Kejriwal has been accused of promoting enmity between classes in connection with elections under section 125 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
He allegedly stated on May 2, 2014 during the campaign trail, “Jo Congress ko vote dega, mera manana hoga, desh ke saath gaddari hogi…. Joh Bhajapa (BJP) ko vote dega use khuda bhi maaf nahin karega (Those who will vote for the Congress will be betraying the nation, and god will not forgive those who will vote for the BJP).”
The plea stated that, Kejriwal had not referred to any religion or caste but only a political party, and a political party can’t be considered as a class of citizens for the purposes of Section 125 of the RP Act.
In his plea before the apex court, Kejriwal stated that the petition raises some important questions of law, including whether a case under Section 125 can be made out without there being any video clip or full transcript of the alleged speech made by him.
The petition stated that, though the complaint alleged violation of only the Model Code of Conduct, the police instead registered an FIR on the very same day.
The plea submitted, Kejriwal stated that this was done without any independent inquiry by the police. It clearly shows the “biasness and the action taken post-haste” by the police.
