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Arvind Kejriwal granted interim bail in ED probe, to remain in jail in CBI case
Pending the adjudication of the larger issue, the Supreme Court deemed it appropriate to order Arvind Kejriwal’s release on interim bail.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering probe by the Enforcement Directorate.
A bench of Justices Sanjv Khanna and Dipankar Datta referred Kejriwal's petition challenging his arrest by the ED to a larger bench, noting that the legal scope of reading need and necessity to arrest and the doctrine of proportionality in ED cases where investigating officers have been given much discretion to make arrests should be determined by a larger bench.
The top court framed three questions related to power and policy of arrest by the ED, and said Kejriwal will be released on interim bail in terms of the conditions in the order of May 10.
The AAP leader, however, will remain incarcerated since he is presently in custody due to a separate case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the excise policy matter.
The court also said it can't direct the Delhi chief minister to step down because of his arrest, adding that it is for Arvind Kejriwal to take a call.
“Satyameva Jayate,” Aam Aadmi Party posted from its official X handle after the court's order.
Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh, who is out on bail in the same case, claimed that everyone including the trial court and Supreme Court believes that Arvind Kejriwal has been falsely implicated by ED.
“Modiji, for how long will you keep the truth imprisoned by filing false cases? The whole country is watching your dictatorship,” he posted on X in Hindi. “The decision of the Supreme Court is the victory of truth. “Down with dictatorship”.”
Kejriwal was arrested in March by the financial crime-fighting agency over alleged corruption in the now-scrapped liquor sales policy. A trial court granted bail to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo on June 20 but the Delhi high court later stayed the order.
Earlier today, Delhi minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj stressed that the Supreme Court's verdict will prove to be a very big milestone for the misuse of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) if Arvind Kejriwal's arrest is declared illegal.
“Many people are waiting for this judgment and we hope that this judgment will strengthen the constitution of our country,” he said.
