C. Hari Shankar, J.

“Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat; But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!”

[The Ballad of East and West – Rudyard Kipling]

The “two strong men” who stand before us, albeit through Counsel, come, not from the ends of the earth, but from the political heartland of the country. Would that our “judgment seat” shared at least some of the divine attributes to which Kipling’s immortal ballad alludes!

The Facts

2. The appellant in FAO 235/2017 is the Chief Minister of Delhi, Mr. Arvind Kejriwal, and the appellant in FAO 234/2017 is Mr. Ashutosh; the spokesperson of the Aam Aadmi party. The respondent, in both these appeals, is the Union Finance Minister of the country, Mr. Arun Jaitley. These are men of stature and accomplishment, regarded and respected by cognoscenti and laity alike. They, and the role they play, are central to the fulfillment, and furtherance, of the hopes and aspirations of millions in this country, who look to them as harbingers of good g