Giving a last opportunity to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Supreme Court on Monday ordered the ruling party in the national capital to vacate its office encroaching on the land allotted to the Delhi High Court by August 10.
A vacation bench presided over by Justice Vikram Nath allowed AAP’s application seeking an extension of the June 15 deadline set earlier by the apex court on March 4.
The Bench, also comprising Justice Sandeep Mehta, ordered the political party led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who remains incarcerated in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy case, to file an undertaking within a week before the SC registry that it will handover the vacant and peaceful possession of the premises in question on or before August 10 this year.
It may be recalled that a bench headed by CJI Chandrachud had earlier come down heavily on AAP for encroaching on a portion of a plot at Rouse Avenue which has been allotted to the High Court to meet the infrastructural requirements of the district judiciary.
For vacating the premises, the CJI Chandrachud-led bench had set the June 15 deadline in view of the general elections and had asked AAP to approach the Union government's Land & Development Office (L&DO) for obtaining alternative office space.
Last week, the Delhi High Court had directed the Centre to decide AAP’s representation for temporary accommodation within six weeks.
The political party had argued that as a recognised national party, AAP is entitled to a temporary office space until permanent land is allotted for constructing their office.