India’s top court grants interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal

The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the now scrapped excise policy case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

A bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna referred to his petition challenging his arrest by the ED to a larger bench.

Supreme Court while granting interim bail to Kejriwal in the ED case observed that the Delhi Chief Minister has suffered incarceration of 90 days and it's conscious that he is an elected leader.

Kejriwal's lawyer Rishikesh Kumar described the verdict as "a big victory."

"The Supreme Court has granted him interim bail and the issue of Section 19 and necessity of arrest has been referred to a larger bench. CM Kejriwal will remain in custody as his bail in the CBI case is still pending. This is a big victory," Kumar told ANI.

Supreme Court lawyer Shadan Farasat representing Kejriwal said, "The court observed that in so far as his arrest is concerned, there are certain aspects on the necessity of arrest... They said Mr Kejriwal has undergone a large period of incarceration already and therefore, directed his release and bail immediately in the ED matter."

The top court had reserved the verdict on Kejriwal's plea on 17 May.

On 10 May, the apex court granted Kejriwal interim bail till 1 June in the money laundering case registered by the ED in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy, however, ordered that he shall not visit the Office of the Chief Minister and the Delhi Secretariat.

The court directed him to surrender on 2 June, following which he had surrendered on 2 June.

While filing an appeal in the apex court, Kejriwal had contended that his arrest after the announcement of the General Elections was "motivated by extraneous considerations".

On April 9, the High Court dismissed his plea for release from jail and rejected his argument of political vendetta amid the looming Lok Sabha elections.

The High Court had said that Kejriwal's absence from nine ED summons over six months undermined any claims of special privilege as Chief Minister, suggesting his arrest was an inevitable consequence of his non-cooperation.

He was arrested by ED on 21 March in connection with a money laundering probe relating to alleged irregularities in the now-cancelled Delhi excise policy 2021-22.