HC allows listing of MLA's plea against Kejriwal on 'low' attendance in Assembly

New Delhi: Rebel AAP MLA Kapil Mishra has filed a plea in the Delhi Court seeking that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal be directed to increase his attendance in the Assembly as he has allegedly skipped most of the sittings.

The PIL by Mishra was mentioned before a vacation bench of Justices Sangita Dhingra Sehgal and C Hari Shankar which allowed it to be listed for hearing. However, the plea did not come up for hearing today and is likely to be listed day after tomorrow on June 13. In his petition filed through advocates Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay and Ashwani Kumar Dubey, the rebel Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA has contended that in the 27 Assembly sittings held last year, Kejriwal was present only in seven. 

"During question hour, he was never present in Assembly in the last 40 months. This shows how serious the Chief Minister is in discussing matters related to the people of Delhi and their development and performing the duties expected of them," the plea said. It has sought a direction to the chief minister to bring out an "annual report card outlining his performance". The plea also seeks directions to Kejriwal to attend the subsequent assembly sessions and to answer the questions of the MLAs. 

It has also sought directions to the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the Assembly to ensure that the chief minister as well as the other MLAs have 75 per cent attendance in the House sessions, saying that the country needs "dedicated and full-time" lawmakers and "not part-time" legislators. The petition has also asked for a an order to the LG to ascertain feasibility of 'no work-no pay' for MLAs who have less than 50 per cent attendance in the Assembly.