Supreme Court grants interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal in ED case

Supreme Court verdict on Arvind Kejriwal's arrest

The Supreme Court on July 12   granted interim bail AAP chief  and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in the ED case related to the Delhi excise policy.

“Arvind Kejriwal has suffered incarceration of 90 days ...We direct Kejriwal will be released on Interim Bail...we are conscious he is an elected leader,” a bench led by justice Sanjiv Khanna said.

The top court however referred his petition challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to a larger bench and made it clear that the decision to grant him interim bail is subject to the outcome of the plea.

The court also noted that they cannot order him to step down as the CM as it is his call to take.

However, the Delhi  Chief Minister will still remain in prison as he was arrested by the CBI in connection with the excise policy case. Kejriwal has moved the Delhi HC seeking bail in the CBI case, it is expected to be heard by the court on July 17.

The apex court had on May 17, reserved the judgment in the Delhi CM's plea challenging his arrest by ED.

On May 10, the court granted interim bail to Kejriwal till June 1 to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. It however denied his request for bail till June 4, the day results would be declared, and said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief must surrender to the prison authorities by June 2, a day after voting ends.

Kejriwal is lodged in the high-security Tihar Jail in the national capital.

Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21. His senior party colleagues, including Manish Sisodia, who had to step down as the deputy chief minister, too, have been arrested in the case.

Kejriwal moved the court against the Delhi High Court order that upheld his arrest. The high court said the material collected by ED showed the chief minister was actively involved in the use of proceeds of crime.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Kejriwal in the liquor policy case on June 26.  CBI arrested  Kejriwal to probe the alleged irregularities in the framing of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy of 2021-22. Kejriwal had not been forthcoming with answers, it said.

When he was presented in a court after his arrest on June 26, Kejriwal accused the agency of building a false narrative through media reports that he blamed his former deputy, Manish Sisodia, for the excise policy.

On June 29, a Delhi court sent him to judicial custody till July 12.

The CM has moved the Delhi HC seeking bail plea in the CBI case. The Delhi HC on July 2 sought CBI's response to the plea. The case will come up hearing on July 17. Kejriwal likely to move a separate bail plea  against his arrest by CBI, according to the CM's lawyer. In addition to this, Kejriwal has also moved the Delhi HC challenging the validity of the CBI arrest.

The matter was heard by a bench headed by Justice Neena Bansal Krishna and it issued the notice to the CBI seeking a response within a week.