Delhi High Court asks ED to give trial court status report on Arvind Kejriwal issuing directions from custody

The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file a status report before the trial court on Arvind Kejriwal issuing directions in his capacity as Delhi Chief Minister (CM) while in the agency's custody..A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora passed the order on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking directions to stop Kejriwal from issuing directions while in custody..The Court told the petitioner that if there was a violation, the same could be brought to the notice of the ED, which would in turn bring it to notice of the trial judge.It then suggested asking ED to treat the petition as a representation before eventually issuing the direction to file a status report. Accordingly, the plea was disposed of..The PIL was filed by a man named Surjit Singh Yadav, who claims to be a farmer and activist..Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in connection with the alleged Delhi Excise Policy case.On March 25, Delhi Minister Atishi claimed that Kejriwal had sent her a document from ED custody with directions to resolve public issues related to water and sewerage.On March 26, Kejriwal reportedly issued another direction asking Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj to ensure that free medicines and tests are available in Delhi's government hospitals and Mohalla clinics.PTI too reported that ED has taken cognisance of the directions issued by Kejriwal and that the agency will investigate if these directions were in line with the court's orders..Yadav has sought directions to the ED not to provide a typist, computer or printer to Kejriwal while he is behind bars. He has also sought registration of a complaint and investigation against Kejriwal as to how the orders and directions issued by him were reaching ministers like Atishi..Notably, Yadav had filed a separate PIL to remove Kejriwal from the post of Chief Minister of Delhi.The High Court rejected the plea on March 28..Earlier, Yadav had filed a PIL seeking directions to the Home Ministry and the Election Commission to take action against Kejriwal, Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav for their "statements against the country." Yadav had said that the opposition leaders had defamed the Central government by claiming that it had written off debts of corporates amounting to nearly ₹16 lakh crore.This petition was dismissed by the High Court on March 20.