Delhi HC pulls up Kejriwal over sit-in at lieutenant governor’s office

New Delhi, June 18 : The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the AAP government who had authorised the sit-in led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the lieutenant governor’s office and observed that strikes or dharnas are held outside and not inside someone’s workplace or residence.
The observation by a bench of Justices A K Chawla and Navin Chawla came while hearing two petitions, one against Kejriwal’s protest and another against the alleged strike by IAS officers of the Delhi administration.
“Who authorised the strike/dharna (sit-in by Kejriwal)? You are sitting inside the LG’s office. If it’s a strike, it has to be outside the office. You cannot hold a strike inside someone’s office or residence,” the court said.
Responding to the query by the bench, senior advocate Sudhir Nandrajog, who appeared for the Delhi government, said Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues took the decision to protest in their individual capacity and they were empowered to do so under Constitution.
Nandrajog also told the court that the only direction that can be issued by the bench in these matters was to the IAS officers to attend routine departmental meetings held by the ministers.
He said an association representing the bureaucrats had admitted in a press conference on Sunday that they were not attending routine meetings. During the arguments, the Central government told the court that no IAS officers were on strike and urged the bench to direct Kejriwal and others to vacate Lt Governor Anil Baijal’s office.