New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wants Manish Sisodia, who walked out on bail last week in the excise policy case after 17 months, to return to his role as deputy chief minister, prompting the AAP to explore legal options to ensure Sisodia’s reinduction into the Cabinet, ThePrint has learnt.
The need to look for legal options has arisen because Sisodia’s reinduction into the Cabinet cannot take place unless Kejriwal, in his capacity as the CM, moves a proposal to Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, whose nod is essential for the swearing in of any new minister in the Delhi administration.
And since Kejriwal is in jail in connection with the excise case, he cannot do this unless he obtains judicial approval to do so. “The CM is quite certain that he wants Manish Sisodia to take charge as the deputy CM immediately. But the legal roadblocks are what we need to surmount. For that the party is exploring the legal options available,” a senior AAP leader said.
“Under the Tihar Jail manual, no inmate, not even a sitting chief minister, can discharge official duties while being inside. It can be done only if an inmate moves the judiciary and gets the required permission. So far, the CM has not obtained any such permission from the courts. But, technically, he is not barred from appointing ministers as he has not resigned from his post. So, it’s possible if the jail manual does not come in the way,” the leader added, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
But going by the circumstances, it’s an uphill road ahead for the AAP, admitted the leader. He pointed out that on Monday, the superintendent of Tihar’s jail number 2 wrote to Kejriwal saying that the CM’s letter to the L-G, in which he informed that minister Atishi would hoist the tricolour on Independence Day, amounted to an “abuse of privilege”.
“From a bare reading of the above rules, it is clear that your communication does not qualify in the permissible communication which can be sent outside the prison. Only private correspondence with a designated set of people, as defined above, is permissible. Therefore, your letter dated 06.08.2024 has not been sent to the addressee but has been filed.
“It is surprising to note that the contents of the letter, which was handed over by you on August 6, were leaked to the media without any authority. This amounts to an abuse of privileges granted to you under the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018,” the letter to Kejriwal said. ThePrint has seen this letter.
The Tihar authorities added that they will be “constrained to invoke the provisions of Delhi Prison Rules, 2018, to curtail (his) privileges” if Kejriwal violates the rules again. Under Rule 588, contents of all letters written by prisoners shall be limited to private matters.
On Monday, Delhi General Administration Department Minister Gopal Rai also wrote to the LG, saying the CM has expressed his desire that Atishi should hoist the flag on 15 August in his place. Rai is the convenor of the AAP’s Delhi unit and is a close confidante of both Kejriwal and Sisodia.
Also read: Sisodia’s 1st day after release from jail: Hanuman temple, Rajghat & a call for Opposition unity
Sisodia back in action
Sisodia walked out of Tihar Jail on 9 August after 17 months, with the Supreme Court granting him bail in the CBI and ED cases against him, owing to his long incarceration in the absence of a speedy trial. The bench of justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanath, however, wrote in the bail order that “there is not even the remotest possibility of the trial being concluded in the near future”.
Kejriwal’s closest lieutenant, with their ties going back decades when they ran NGOs together, Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on 26 February, 2023. Twelve days later, the ED also arrested him in connection with irregularities in formulation and execution of the now-withdrawn Delhi excise policy.
Sisodia had resigned as minister two days after his arrest. Apart from dealing a political blow to the AAP, Sisodia’s arrest, and subsequent resignation, had also come as a major setback for the party in terms of the functioning of the Delhi government as he was handling as many as 18 departments, from education to finance.
Had Kejriwal not been in prison, Sisodia could have taken charge as a minister without any delay as there is already a vacancy in the Delhi cabinet due to the resignation of Raaj Kumar Anand as the social welfare minister in April. Apart from Kejriwal, the Delhi Cabinet currently comprises Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot, and Imran Hussain.
“Ideally, a Dalit leader would have replaced Anand, but the circumstances are such that the AAP stands to gain more from getting Sisodia back as the deputy CM to get the city’s governance back on track,” an AAP functionary said.
The release of AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on bail had helped the AAP in terms of political mobilisation, but governance continued to suffer due to the running feud between the elected government and the L-G.
With assembly elections in Delhi due in about six months, after his release, Sisodia has plunged headlong into putting the AAP’s house in order, holding one meeting after another with the party’s office-bearers, Delhi government ministers, MLAs, and MPs. He will meet the party’s councillors Tuesday and, from 14 August, he will embark on a padyatra across the city.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)