Delhi HC gives ED last chance to argue for cancelling bail to Kejriwal in liquor policy case

Kejriwal’s lawyer, Vivek Chaudhari, opposed the plea, arguing that the matter had already been adjourned nine times at the agency’s request

New Delhi

The bench granted ED the last opportunity and fixed November 10 as the next date of hearing. (Representative photo)

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) its last opportunity to argue for the cancellation of bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi excise policy case, after ED counsel Vivek Gurnani sought an adjournment from a bench led by justice Ravinder Dudeja, citing the unavailability of Additional Solicitor General SV Raju.

Kejriwal’s lawyer, Vivek Chaudhari, opposed the plea, arguing that the matter had already been adjourned nine times at the agency’s request. He contended that the repeated delays were a tactic by the ED to prolong the proceedings.

However, the bench granted ED the last opportunity and fixed November 10 as the next date of hearing.

“Considering that the ASG is not available today as being held up before the Supreme Court, in the interest of justice, a last and final opportunity is granted to the petitioner department to submit its arguments,” the court said in its order.

The ED moved the Delhi High Court in less than 24 hours after the Delhi court granted bail to Kejriwal.

On June 20, a Delhi court had granted the CM bail in the ED case, citing a lack of direct evidence, but the same was halted by the Delhi high court on June 21, in less than 24 hours. On June 25, a vacation bench of justice Sudhir Kumar Jain stayed the bail, saying that the order was perverse and was passed without appreciating the material submitted by the ED.

The federal agency’s petition painted a picture that the bail order was passed without granting adequate opportunity to the probe agency to oppose CM’s bail application, despite all courts up to the Supreme Court having given judicial imprimatur regarding the commission of the offence of money laundering against the accused in the scam involving alterations in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy of 2021-22 to benefit certain liquor traders.

On the last date of hearing, May 5, the high court adjourned the ED’s petition, after the agency had said that it would like to revive its plea, following the Supreme Court’s decision on the larger question of the “necessity” of Kejriwal’s arrest. On July 12, 2024, Kejriwal secured interim bail from the Supreme Court, which had referred his petition to a larger bench for deciding the aspect of “need and necessity of arrest” under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

As the larger bench is yet to be constituted, the ED told the high court that it was in no hurry to seek cancellation of the bail as the same has been granted by the top court. However, ASG Raju had said that once the Supreme Court, while deciding the larger issue, cancels bail, the occasion to hear the present petition will arise, challenging the validity of the June 20, 2024, order passed by a Delhi court, granting bail.