In the sprawling expanse of New Delhi, a judicious Supreme Court bench, on a Tuesday, prolonged its provisional halt on legal proceedings concerning the Delhi Chief Executive, Arvind Kejriwal. The case at hand revolves around allegations of him making objectionable statements in Uttar Pradesh during the 2014 Lok Sabha electoral crusade.
The bench, presided over by the erudite Justices M M Sundresh and S V N Bhatti, concurred to scrutinize the appeal proffered by Kejriwal. With sagacious utterance, the bench declared, “Let the provisional decree persist. What pertains to all this? These are inconsequential affairs. It does not fall within our purview to delve into such matters.”
Kejriwal stands accused of fomenting animosity between societal strata in connection to elections under section 125 of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951.
The leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sought recourse in the apex court, contesting the adjudication of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court. The Lucknow bench had declined to absolve him in the criminal litigation pending before a trial court in Sultanpur.
Kejriwal’s legal submission posited that he had abstained from referencing any religious or caste affiliations but had merely alluded to a political faction. He appended that a political faction should not be construed as a collective entity of citizens for the intents and purposes of Section 125 of the RP Act.
The plea advanced by Kejriwal queries the viability of establishing a case under Section 125 sans the presence of a video excerpt or a comprehensive transcript of the purported oration.
In the bygone days of May 2014, Kejriwal purportedly articulated during the campaign, “Those who confer their vote upon the Congress shall, in my conviction, be perpetrating treachery against the nation… Those who bestow their vote upon the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shall find no redemption even in the eyes of God.”
