NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal can campaign in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections as the Supreme Court on Friday granted him 21-day interim bail till June 1 in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy scam.
“Given the prodigious importance (of Lok Sabha elections), we reject the argument raised on behalf of the prosecution (ED) that grant of interim bail/release on this account would be giving premium of placing the politicians in a benefic position compared to ordinary citizens,” a Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta said.
The Bench, which had on May 7 clearly hinted at releasing Kejriwal for a limited period in view of the elections, barely took a few minutes to pronounce the order. It asked him to surrender on June 2, a day after the seventh and final phase of polling.
Senior counsel AM Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, urged the Bench to let the CM be out for a few more days as counting of votes would take place on June 4. However, the Bench didn’t agree.
On behalf of the Enforcement Directorate, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta vehemently opposed the grant of interim bail to Kejriwal and cited the case of pro-Khalistan activist Amritpal Singh, who has been arrested under the National Security Act and has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking his release to fight elections from Khadoor Sahib in Punjab. “I could not find any precedent on a person being released for campaigning in elections,” Mehta said.
“Let’s not put it into a simple straightjacket like that,” Justice Khanna said and went on to pronounce the order. Arrested on March 21, Kejriwal was lodged in Tihar Jail and he had challenged the Delhi High Court’s April 9 verdict upholding his arrest.
Kejriwal is the second senior AAP leader to come out of jail in excise policy scam-related cases. On April 2, the top court had granted bail to senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh, who was arrested by the ED on October 4, 2023. Two other senior AAP leaders former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and former Health Minister Satyendar Jain continue to be in jail in separate money laundering cases.
While agreeing with the ED’s contention that Kejriwal had failed to appear in spite of nine summons issued since October 2023, the Bench said in its detailed order that there were several other facets required to be considered.
“Appellant Arvind Kejriwal is the CM of Delhi and a leader of one of the national parties. No doubt, serious accusations have been made, but he has not been convicted. He does not have any criminal antecedents,” the Bench noted.