'Will Take Action If Required': Delhi High Court On Plea Against Protests In Court Premises On Arvind Kejriwal's Arrest

A letter petition has been filed in the Delhi High Court challenging the protest of Aam Aadmi Party's legal cell against the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case.The matter was mentioned by Advocate Vaibhav Singh, who filed the letter plea, before a division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan. The court said that the matter will be taken up tomorrow. Singh told the court that his prayer is that for political purpose, one cannot go into protest in court premises. “We'll have it tomorrow…Don't worry about it… Court cannot be withheld or stopped. We cannot take away someone's fundamental right to approach court. If someone does it, they will do it at their own peril. And we will take action if required,” Acting Chief Justice said. The court further remarked that there will be serious consequences of organizing the protest in court and that law laid down by Supreme Court on the issue will be applied. Kejriwal was arrested on March 21. Next day, the trial court had remanded him to ED custody till March 28.The letter plea submits that now a days it has become a trend for the political parties' members to engage their legal cell member for calling for strike, protest, giving a call for boycott or going on a token strike to pressurise law enforcement agencies and sometime to the extent of pressurising the judiciary.The petition refers to certain tweets made by the lawyers calling for massive protests in the courts in the national capital. “That putting false and baseless allegation on Law Enforcement Agencies and Central Government and then using the court premises as a battle ground for political parties is a gross misconduct of professional ethics and in violation of Rules of Bar Council of India and also volition of the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court judgements,” the plea states. The letter petition seeking an immediate stay on the call for protest. It further seeks a direction on the Bar Council of India and Bar Council of Delhi to thoroughly investigate the matter for professional misconduct.The plea further seeks a direction on the bar association of the district courts and High Court to initiate Disciplinary Proceedings against the lawyers or political workers who is participating in the illegal call for the protest within the Court premises.It seeks further imposition of an appropriate penalty on Legal Cell of Aam Aadmi Party for calling of illegal protest within the court premises of Delhi.

'Will Take Action If Required': Delhi High Court On Plea Against Protests In Court Premises On Arvind Kejriwal's Arrest

Nupur Thapliyal

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