No relief for Kejriwal: SC puts off bail plea hearing; Delhi court extends judicial custody

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal

The Supreme Court said it would likely hear Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's plea for interim bail in the Delhi liquor policy case on May 9 or next week. Meanwhile, Delhi Rouse Avenue court extended Kejriwal's judicial custody  till May 20.

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said Kejriwal will only be granted relief subject to the condition that he will not discharge any official duties as it may have a “cascading effect”. The judges also asserted that the situation was “extraordinary” since Lok Sabha elections are once in a five-year event. “While granting interim bail, we examine whether there will be any misuse or if the person is a hardened criminal. That is not the case here," Justice Khanna said during the proceedings.

Addressing the ED’s argument that exceptions should not be made for politicians, Justice Khanna said, " “We are not going by whether it is a politician or not. Every individual would have some special or exceptional circumstances. We are considering whether an exception is required in view of the elections. We are not saying there has to be a different law for politicians.”

SG Tushar Mehta argued that granting a bail to Kejriwal just for elections would amount to creating a separate category of persons in bail jurisprudence. He said "It is being stated that nothing was done  by the ED since the scam came to light and he was picked up during elections. This is however not correct at all."

Mehta also argued that the consequences of granting bail to Kejriwal might be 'irreversible'. The court however said nothing would be irreversible if bail is granted.

SG said "The Court is allowing the doors of contingencies just to let out this one person and the public prosecutor will not be able to argue ever if a kirana owner comes. I know these are inconvenient arguments."

The court however made it clear that if at all it grants bail, it would not create any special exemption for politicians but was only passing the order owing to the ongoing general elections.

On May 4, the court orally observed that it may consider the question of granting interim bail to CM Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case owing to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

During the course of hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Kejriwal, argued that the ED need not have arrested Kejriwal on March 21 the way it did as there have been no changes to circumstances since Manish Sisodia's case.

On April 30, the SC questioned ED on the timing of Kejriwal's arrest as the  the timing of it happened just before the Lok Sabha elections began.

"The timing of the arrest is just before general elections," the bench observed.

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Dutta also observed that "life and liberty are important".

On April 15, the SC refused to grant any immediate relief to Kejriwal. The court, however, issued notice to ED and asked it respond to the AAP chief’s petition by April 24. The case is likely to be heard in the week beginning April 29.

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