On Sunday, Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, went to the Supreme Court to contest the Delhi High Court’s decision on Friday to suspend his bail in the Delhi liquor case.
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Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain of the Delhi High Court’s Vacation Bench issued an order on Friday temporarily halting the trial court’s decision to grant bail to Kejriwal. He also postponed the judgement on the ED’s appeal and mentioned that he would decide within 2-3 days, potentially on Tuesday, June 25th. This caused Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Leader Kejriwal to approach the Supreme Court on Sunday to contest the High Court’s decision to put his bail on hold.
Kejriwal’s lawyers informed the newspaper that they plan to bring up the issue on June 24, Monday, before a vacation bench of the highest court and request immediate listing and hearing of the case. Lawyer Sanjeev Nasiar, part of Kejriwal’s legal team, informed TNIE that they have appealed to the highest court to contest the HC decision to halt Kejriwal’s bail.
Justice Jain had hinted on Friday that he was likely to decide on the ED’s appeal against the trial court’s bail order on Tuesday, June 25th. Kejriwal suffered a major blow from the HC ruling.
The Bail Order
On Thursday, June 20, Kejriwal received significant relief when Vacation Judge Niyay Bindu of Rouse Avenue Court granted him bail in the Delhi liquor case. Kejriwal is the main suspect in the recently cancelled liquor case in Delhi. The court granted Kejriwal bail upon being instructed to provide a personal bail bond worth Rs 1 lakh.
Shortly after Judge Bindu issued the order, the ED, investigating the Delhi liquor case with the CBI, asked for a 48-hour extension to sign the bail bond to appeal the court’s decision to the higher court. Nevertheless, the judge rejected the ED’s plea and directed that the bail bond be presented to the duty judge by Friday. The ED was informed by the trial court that the bail order was not put on hold.
The Stay Plea
The ED appealed to the Delhi HC to challenge the trial court order and requested a halt on his bail. In the HC hearing on Thursday, ASG SV Raju, representing the ED, claimed that the trial court’s bail decision was “perverse” as it went against Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
“The trial court order should be immediately stayed. We were not given an opportunity to represent our case in the trial court. When I tried to submit, the trial court said I had to deliver the judgment. Be brief,” he said.
Senior advocate Vikram Chaudhari, who is representing Kejriwal, objected to the ED’s submissions by pointing out that the trial judge had already granted bail with a detailed explanation, therefore, the matter should not be listed during the vacations. He inquired about the reason for going to the HC during holidays, stating that a stay was not an option.
Case in Detail
Mr. Kejriwal and a political party are being named as accused in the ED’s chargesheet in the excise policy case for the first time. In response to the chargesheet, the AAP accused the investigating agency of behaving as if it were a political arm of the BJP.
The ED accused Mr. Kejriwal of being the mastermind behind the Delhi excise policy scam in their remand order post his arrest on March 21, claiming he played a direct role in formulating policies and managing illegal profits. The agency stated that Arvind Kejriwal, who is the Chief Minister of the Delhi government under the AAP, was the main instigator in the excise policy scam.
