SC reserves judgment in Kejriwal's plea against arrest, says he can move trial court for bail

Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

The Supreme Court on May 17 reserved judgement in Delhi chief minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest and remand by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said Kejriwal can apply for bail in lower courts in accordance with law if need be.

The court today checked the file maintained by the ED to find out what if any statements had been made against Kejriwal after the denial of bail to Manish Sisodia to the date of his arrest in March 2024. It has been Kejriwal's contention that he was arrested around the time of elections despite there being no evidence against him.

The verification was done after Singhvi argued that the ED had no reason to arrest Kejriwal and the statements they have date back to mid 2023. Singhvi also vehemently opposed ED's contention that Kejriwal had contacted Hawala dealers to route the proceeds of crime. However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta strongly objected to this and stated that the Hawala dealers have been apprehended and money could be recovered from them.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, who appeared for the ED today argued that the law enforcement agency had proven that kickbacks (from liquour policy scam) were sent through hawala and then in Goa, it was distributed by the two persons handling the election campaign.

The court however questioned him if an accused would be appraised of 'reasons to believe' for his arrest. When the ASG answered in the negative, the court questioned as to how an accused can defend himself if he is not furnished with a copy of this documents. Raju however clarified that the document would be made available once the chargesheet is filed.

On May 16, the court questioned the ED over allegedly ignoring statements in Kejriwal's favour but then arresting the Aam Aadmi Party chief on the statements made against him by the same persons.

Kejriwal alleged that statements made against him were obtained through coercion. He alleged that Magunta Srinivas Reddy, a four-time MP from Andhra Pradesh, his son, Raghav Magunta and Aurobindo Pharma director Sarath Reddy gave statements against him under duress. They had not named him in their initial statements, he added.

The three were released on bail shortly after giving statements against him, the chief minister claimed.

Represented by  Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta and Additional SG SV Raju, the ED argued that Kejriwal's arrest was valid and his plea not maintainable.

The outcome of the plea was being closely tracked as the Aam Aadmi Party chief’s arrest has become a poll issue, with the party accusing the BJP of political vendetta and misusing probe agencies to pressure opponents. The BJP accuses AAP and Kejriwal of widespread corruption.

On May 10, the court granted interim bail to Kejriwal till June 1 to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. It 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 was 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.