The Supreme Court will hear on January 24 two writ petitions challenging the dharna staged by the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejiriwal and workers of his Aam Aadmi Party here, arguing it amounted to breakdown of the constitutional machinery in the State.
A Bench of Chief Justice P. Sathasivam and Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Shivakirti Singh agreed to hear the petitions filed by advocates N. Rajaraman and Manoharlal Sharma, who said the protest affected free movement of people.
Mr. Rajaram said the Chief Minister, in spite of his swearing allegiance to the Constitution, called for a dharna in Lutyens’ Delhi when Republic Day celebrations were under way and passed the responsibility for peaceful conduct of the Republic Day parade to the Centre in disregard of the Constitution and rule of law and prohibitory orders. By staging the dharna, he said, Mr. Kejiriwal and AAP workers had violated the rights to life and free movement of thousands of metro commuters.
He wanted the Centre to restrain Mr. Kejiriwal from violating the prohibitory orders and ensure that the parade was peaceful.
