The Delhi High Court today said that the inability of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) to act with alacrity and respond to the urgency of providing MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) students with basic amenities, exhibits its indifference towards their plight and is a wilful violation of their fundamental rights. It took judicial notice of the fact that the current MCD House is not able to transact any business because of unavailability of the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora observed that national interest and public interest demands that no person who holds the post of Chief Minister is incommunicado or absent for a long stretch of time or for an uncertain time period.

It further said that the decision of Arvind Kejriwal to continue to hold the position of Chief Minister despite his arrest is his “personal decision” but his non-availability cannot come in the way of young children studying in MCD schools from receiving their free text books, writing material and uniform forthwith.

The bench directed the MCD Commissioner to incur the expenditure required for fulfilling the said obligations forthwith without being constrained by the expenditure limit of five crore rupees.