Arvind Kejriwal should surrender within 4 weeks to avoid coercive action: Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court has ruled that if Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal surrenders before a court in Amethi district within four weeks, no coercive action shall be taken against him till then in a criminal case pending in the lower court.

Justice AN Mittal of the Lucknow bench gave the order on a petition of Kejriwal, challenging an August 12 order of the lower court. The hearing on the petition took place on Thursday before the High Court, which reserved its order.

Kejriwal had sought a direction to quash the order of the court of judicial magistrate, Amethi, which dismissed his petition for exemption of his personal attendance.

"Considering the request of learned counsel for the petitioner, it is provided that if the petitioner, Arvind Kejriwal, surrenders before the (lower) court within four weeks from today and moves an application for bail, the same shall be considered and disposed of expeditiously in accordance with law...Till then, no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioner," the High Court said.

The order further said, "I do not find any error of law or perversity in the order dated August 12, by which the application for exemption has been rejected." As for the prayer of petitioner to stay the entire criminal proceedings of this case, the court did not find any sufficient ground to stay the criminal proceedings and termed the prayer as misconceived.