Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Challenging Stay On HC Direction To Enforce Delhi CM's Speech Promising Rent Relief

"The promise/assurance/representation given by the CM clearly amounts to an enforceable promise, the implementation of which ought to be considered by the Government. Good governance requires that promises made to citizens, by those who govern, are not broken, without valid and justifiable reasons."

Furthermore, it said:

"The CM is expected to have had the said knowledge and is expected to exercise his authority to give effect to his promise/assurance. To that extent, it would not be out of the place to state that a reasonable citizen would believe that the CM has spoken on behalf of his Government, while making the said promise."

The Court was dealing with a petition filed by daily wage labourers/ workers, who were unable to pay their monthly rent, to seek enforcement of a promise made by the Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal dated 29th March last year.

In September 2021, the Division Bench of Chief Justice D. N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh said that operation and implementation of the single judge order will be kept in abeyance till the next date of hearing, ie., November 29. It also orally asked the Government if it is willing to pay in part.

The development came in an appeal preferred by the Delhi Government against the single judge order. Senior Advocate Manish Vashisht claimed that Kejriwal's statement was not a "promise".