The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Minister Somnath Bharti to respond within two weeks to a plea seeking cancellation of their election for exceeding the expenditure limit in the Assembly polls.
The Court sought their response by April 17 on petitions by BJP leaders Vijender Gupta and Aarti Mehra alleging that both Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Bharti had spent beyond the statutory limit of Rs.14 lakh.
Justice Vipin Sanghi granted two more weeks’ time to Mr. Kejriwal to respond to Mr. Gupta’s plea, as sought by his counsel. Justice G.S. Sistani too asked Mr. Bharti to respond to Ms. Mehra’s plea within two weeks.
During the hearing, Justice Sistani asked the BJP leaders’ counsel about the effect of the Chief Minister’s resignation on the case. Their lawyer said since it is an election petition, the CM’s resignation will have no effect on the case.
The BJP leaders had moved the High Court saying that the AAP leaders had spent much beyond the limit of Rs.14 lakh on poll campaign by organising a concert here in which many celebrities were also invited.
