New Delhi, Apr 30 (Agency) The Delhi High Court on Monday reprimanded the AAP government for not distributing textbooks to the students. A bench, headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan, said that the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal cannot be grounds for non-distribution of school textbooks to students. Justice Manmohan allowed the Commissioner of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to incur the expenses required for the same. The bench, which also had Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh-Arora, said that fundamental rights of young children cannot be trampled upon merely because the Chief Minister is not available. “As the students of MCD schools are entitled to free textbooks, writing material and uniform under their Constitutional and statutory rights, and the schools are going to close for summer vacations shortly, this court directs the commissioner, MCD to incur the expenditure required for fulfilling the said obligations forthwith without being constrained by the expenditure limit of Rs five crores.
However, the expenditure incurred by the Commissioner, MCD shall be subject to statutory audit,” the bench directed. The Delhi government had earlier told the court that the Standing Committee of MCD is empowered to decide as regards the finances of the MCD, but the constitution of the Standing Committee is under dispute, which is pending before the Supreme Court. The court, while strongly objecting to the argument, remarked, “It is against national interest if a Chief Minister remains absent for so long.” The court said, “It amounts to an admission that the Delhi government, due to absence of the Chief Minister is at a standstill. A Chief Minister’s post in any State, let alone a buzzing capital city like Delhi, is not a ceremonial post. It is a post where the office holder (when in office) has to be virtually available 24×7 to deal with any crisis or natural disaster like flooding, fire, disease etc.” The bench further said, “National interest and public interest demands that no person who holds this post is incommunicado or absent for a long period or an uncertain period.” The High Court order was passed in a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by Ashok Aggarwal from a non-governmental organisation (NGO) Social Jurist. The plea stated that the students studying in MCD schools had not received textbooks and were studying in tin sheds because of the logjam in the civic body.