NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Monday stayed an order and directed the AAP government to formulate a policy on the implementation of CM Arvind Kejriwal’s announcement that if a poor tenant was unable to pay rent during the pandemic, the state would pay it.
A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice on the Delhi government’s appeal against the order passed by a single judge, who also held that a Chief Minister’s promise to citizens is enforceable in nature. The bench said that irreparable loss would be caused to the appellant if an order of stay is not passed.
Senior counsel Manish Vashisht, appearing for the Delhi government, claimed that during the Covid outbreak, a ‘fervent appeal’ was made by the CM not to coerce the tenants into paying rent, however, the same was ‘found’ to be ‘a sort of a promise’ by the single judge.
"There was no promise at all. We only said please follow the statement of the Prime Minister. We said to the landlords (that) do not coerce tenants to pay rent and even if the poor do not find the means to pay, the government will look into it," he stated.