JUDGMENT

MANMOHAN, ACJ: (ORAL)

1. Present Public Interest Litigation (‘PIL’) has been filed seeking a direction to the Union of India (‘UOI’) to provide information about the arrest of a political party leader or a candidate immediately to the Respondent No. 1, Election Commission of India (‘ECI’) when the Model Code of Conduct (‘MCC’) is in force. The Petitioner also seeks a direction to ECI to develop a mechanism to ensure that the arrested under-trial political party leaders and/or candidates are allowed to campaign through virtual conference mode with reasonable restriction as may be decided by a competent Court and/or the ECI. The Petitioner also seeks a direction to ECI to reply to letters/communication received from members of the public in terms of the Office Memorandum (‘O.M.’) dated 01st December, 2021 and 15th March, 2021 issued by Department of Personnel and Training (‘DoPT’). 2. Learned counsel for the Petitioner states that the present PIL has been filed on behalf of the affected party leaders and electors in Delhi. He states that the Petitioner is aggrieved by the timing of the arrest of the National Convener/leader of the Aam Admi Party (‘AAP’) on 21st March, 2024. H