The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a Delhi excise policy case registered by the Executive Director (ED).
The hearing headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna related to his petition challenging his arrest by the ED.
Delhi Excise Policy case
Granting interim bail to Kejriwal in the ED case, the Supreme Court noted that the Delhi Chief Minister has been in jail for 90 days and is aware that he is an elected leader.
Kejriwal’s lawyer Rishikesh Kumar described the verdict as a “big victory”.
“The Supreme Court granted him interim bail and Section 19 and the matter of necessity of arrest was referred to the High Court. CM Kejriwal remains in custody as his bail in the CBI case is still pending. This is a big win, said Kumar.
Supreme Court lawyer Shadan Farasat, who represented Kejriwal, said: “The court observed that there are certain aspects for his arrest, they said that Mr. Kejriwal has been in jail for a long time and therefore ordered his release and bail immediately to ED in the case.
Supreme Court ruled on Kejriwal’s plea on May 10. Kejriwal was granted interim bail till June 1. However, the policy project required him not to visit the Prime Minister’s office and Delhi Secretariat.
The court ordered him to surrender on June 2.
Appealing to the Supreme Court, Kejriwal claimed that his arrest was “motivated by extraneous circumstances”.
On April 9, the Supreme Court rejected his plea for release from jail, rejecting his claims of a political vendetta during the looming Lok Sabha elections.
The Supreme Court said that Kejriwal’s absence from nine ED summons in six months undermines claims of prime ministerial special privilege, suggesting that his arrest was an inevitable consequence of his non-cooperation.
He was arrested by the ED on March 21 in connection with a money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the now-canceled Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
