India, April 12 -- A March 2020 assurance by then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that his government would pay rent for tenants unable to do so during the COVID-19 lockdown has come under sharp judicial scrutiny, with the Delhi High Court recording its surprise at the Delhi government's attempt to distance itself from the Chief Minister's own statement.

A Division Bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla on 6 April, while deciding a Letters Patent Appeal filed by the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi against a Single Judge order dated 22 July 2021, noted a clear inconsistency between the public assurance made by Kejriwal and the stand taken by the government led by him in court at the time....