The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday asserted its stance on seeking the resignation of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after the High Court upheld his CBI arrest in the alleged excise policy scam.
However, the Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party said that it is "unfortunate" that the BJP is trying to "mislead" the people of Delhi.
Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said both the Supreme Court's decision on Lieutenant governor's power to directly appoint aldermen to MCD and Delhi HC's verdict on the excise policy case were victories for the people of the national capital.
"The question now is whether Kejriwal has the moral authority to remain the Chief Minister of Delhi," Sachdeva said, adding that the government was "paralysed" and none of the ministers were ready to take accountability for it.
Launching a scathing attack on AAP, he said, "The high court order has vindicated BJP's allegations that the AAP and the Kejriwal government looted Delhi in excise policy scam."
Sachdeva said it is now imperative that Kejriwal steps down as the Delhi CM and someone else takes the responsibility to bring the administration back on track.
Notably, bringing no relief to Kejriwal, the Delhi High Court had upheld his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the excise policy-linked corruption case. The court also dismissed his bail plea, granting him liberty to approach the trial court for relief.
BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj pointed out that the court, while upholding Kejriwal's arrest, noted "it can not be said that his arrest was unjustifiable or illegal".
The "whimsical" insistence of the AAP chief to run the government from jail has led to "zero governance and complete policy paralysis", she said.
Meanwhile, the AAP claimed that the CBI case had not been decided on merit by the High Court.
"The petition before the High Court was challenging certain technical aspects of the law, as to non-compliance by prosecution of certain legal provisions," the AAP said.
In a statement, the party noted that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case was decided on merits and it was "conclusively" held by the trial court that there is no evidence against Arvind Kejriwal, adding that both the trial and the apex court have granted bail to the CM.
Notably, CBI arrested Kejriwal from Tihar Jail on June 26, where he was lodged in judicial custody in connection with a excise policy-linked money laundering case by the ED.
The ED had arrested the Delhi CM on March 21 and he was granted bail by the trial court in the case on June 20. However, the high court stayed the trial court's order.
Then the Supreme Court on July 12, granted him interim bail in the money laundering case.
The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi LG ordered a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities and corruption in the formulation and execution of the policy.
