Should jailed politicians be allowed to campaign for elections? PIL moved in Delhi High Court

A public interest litigation (PIL) has been moved in the Delhi High Court, urging the Election Commission of India (ECI) to immediately establish a mechanism enabling arrested political party leaders or candidates to continue campaigning during elections.

According to the plea, politicians could potentially campaign via video conferencing.

The PIL was lodged by a final-year law student from Jamia Millia Islamia, following the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal due to alleged irregularities in a liquor policy case.

Filed by Amarjeet Gupta, the plea expresses grievance regarding the timing of political leaders' arrests after the ECI's model code of conduct (MCC) for the Lok Sabha elections had been announced. Specifically, Gupta highlights the timing of Arvind Kejriwal's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21.

The plea contends that Gupta is aggrieved by the fact that Delhi voters are unable to exercise their fundamental right to access information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution through observing or listening to election campaigns led by political party leaders. It further argues that arrested political leaders are denied their constitutionally guaranteed fundamental and legal right to campaign.

Among its requests, the plea seeks a directive to the Centre to promptly notify the ECI whenever a political leader or candidate is arrested during the enforcement of the MCC.

The PIL underscores that voters, particularly in Delhi, are left uninformed due to the inability to learn about the objectives and ideologies of national parties when their leaders are arrested during the MCC period.

Despite being behind bars in a money laundering case, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had designated Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as a star campaigner for the Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat. The names of senior AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, both also in jail, were included in the list of 40 star campaigners submitted by the party to the Election Commission.

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case related to the Delhi government's now-defunct excise policy. He has been incarcerated in Tihar Jail number 2 since April 1.