Can't CM Arvind Kejriwal sign remission files from jail? Supreme Court asks

The Supreme Court on Friday asked whether there was any rule preventing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from dealing with files for the remission (early release) of prisoners while he remains in jail in the Delhi excise policy case..The Bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih posed the query after it was informed that remission cases were getting delayed due to the lack of signature from the Chief Minister.Notably, before a prisoner's plea for premature release reaches the Lieutenant Governor in Delhi, the file has to have the signature of the Chief Minister."Please tell if there any restraint order against Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi to not sign remission files from jail ... Whether there is any prohibition on the CM dealing with files of premature release while he himself is detained in a case?" the Court asked the Delhi government today. .Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati and Senior Advocate Archana Dave, representing the Delhi government, said they will take instructions in this regard. It was also submitted there was no precedent for such a situation where the Chief Minister is in jail."You have to (inform if there is any rule in place), else we will have to exercise our powers under Article 142 of Constitution of India because these matters cannot be stalled like this," the Court said as it adjourned the matter..Advocates Sumer Singh Boparai and Aadil Singh Boparai appeared for the petitioner, who has sought the remission of his prison sentence. According to an order passed in April, the petitioner has been released on furlough (temporary leave from prison).In an order passed in May this year, the Court had asked the State to take a decision on the question of his permanent remission in two months of time. This deadline was extended by a month in July, before the posting the case on September 6 (today). .However, Delhi's Chief Minister Kejriwal has been in jail since his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21, except when he was briefly released (for about two weeks) on interim bail to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, 2024. Kejriwal is among those being prosecuted by the ED as well as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on allegations that he conspired to create loopholes in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy of 2021-22.Though on July 12 he was ordered to be released by the Supreme Court in the money laundering case being probed by the ED, he remains in jail as he was also later arrested by the CBI.The judgment on the legality of his arrest by the CBI was reserved by the top court on Thursday (September 5). .[Read Live Coverage]