Delhi high court waives fine slapped on litigant over Kejriwal plea

A bench of acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora noted that the petitioner, a law student, tendered an unconditional apology admitting his mistake

The Delhi high court on Monday waived the ₹75,000 fine slapped on a litigant over a plea seeking “extraordinary interim bail” for chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in all criminal cases registered against him in connection with the alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped 2021-22 Delhi excise policy.

The litigant sought the waiver saying he learnt his lesson. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A bench of acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora noted that the petitioner, a law student, tendered an unconditional apology admitting his mistake. “Today, the petitioner has tendered his unconditional apology. ...the cost of ₹75,000 is waived off,” the court said.

The student sought the waiver saying he learnt his lesson after reading the court’s final judgment. In his application, the student said he could not pay the cost as he belonged to the lower middle class.

In April, the court slapped the fine calling the previous plea as non-maintainable saying that the petitioner, who filed it on behalf of “We the People of India”, had not challenged judicial orders under which Kejriwal was in custody. It said the court in writ jurisdiction cannot grant “extraordinary interim bail” in pending cases initiated against a person holding high office.

The Supreme Court on May 10 granted Kejriwal a 21-day interim bail for campaigning in the ongoing general elections. Seven days later, it reserved its verdict on Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest.