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- Delhi High Court Overturns Former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Rent Assurance COVID 19 Lockdown
New Delhi5 minutes ago
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Arvind Kejriwal remains the Chief Minister of Delhi in his third term till September 2024.
Delhi High Court has overturned the 2021 order of a single judge. That order said that former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s announcement to pay fares for the poor during the COVID-19 lockdown was legally enforceable.
The division bench of Justice C Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla said that the statement given in the press conference cannot be considered as a legal promise which can be enforced by the courts.
The bench stressed that no ‘writ of mandamus’ (authority to issue orders) can compel the government to implement such a promise.
Court order in 3 points…
- The demand for implementation of the Chief Minister’s announcement of 29th March 2020 is not in the eyes of law, and hence, it is rejected.
- This promise was not part of any government order, not even the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) order issued on the same day. This order was never even challenged.
- However, landlords cannot demand rent from migrant tenants for the time they were unable to move out of their rented homes due to the COVID-19 lockdown. This relief is only for the lockdown, and will not be applicable after that.
High Court said- Delhi government is free to take the decision
The High Court also said during the hearing that the Delhi government is free to take any policy decision whether it wants to help the tenants by paying the rent or not, but the court cannot force the government to do so. The court further said that there is nothing clear about the financial and practical implications of such a promise, and it appears that the statement was made in an emergency situation.
What order did the single judge bench give?
The case pertains to the order of a single judge on July 22, 2021. It was said in that order that the Chief Minister’s promise could be implemented. Also, the bench had directed the government to make a policy on this within a fixed time frame. This order was given on a petition filed by 5 daily wage labourers. These workers were unable to pay their rent during the lockdown and wanted the government to fulfill the announcement made by the Chief Minister.
Delhi government had said in the court – We had appealed, not promised.
The Delhi government had challenged the order of the single judge bench, saying that this statement was just an appeal to landlords not to put pressure on tenants to pay rent, and not a firm promise. The government argued that it had only said that if the need arose, it would consider the matter. Earlier, on September 27, 2021, the division bench had stayed the single-judge order, saying its implementation could create serious problems for the government. With this final judgment the High Court has now set aside the previous order and disposed of the appeal, with no order as to costs.
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