Supreme Court Grants Bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court granted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal bail in the excise policy case on Friday.

The court gave its order on the petitions filed by Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, wherein he has moved the court of law against his arrest and sought a bail in a case registered by Central Bureau of Investigation, related to the alleged Delhi Liquor Policy scam.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan heard the plea and kept its verdict reserved on September 5. Both judges passed separate orders in the matter.

The court reserved the order on September 5 after arguments by Kejriwal's counsel and the CBI. The CBI, through Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, informed the court that the petitioner ought first to have moved the trial court for bail, and it was not open to him directly to approach the Delhi High Court and thereafter the Supreme Court.

Justice Surya Kant, therefore, held that the arrest of Kejriwal was legal and in consonance with due process. He rejected the contention that during arrest, the CBI did not follow the provisions under Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

While the chargesheet has already been filed and the trial is unlikely to conclude anytime soon, the two-judge bench agreed to grant Kejriwal bail.

The relief conditions would be the same as already set when he got temporary bail in the ED case: he would not be allowed to visit the office of the Chief Minister or the Delhi Secretariat.

Kejriwal's fresh petition had assailed the Delhi High Court order of August 5, wherein a Single Judge had dismissed his petition for discharge in the CBI arrest but permitted him to approach the trial court for bail. He has also filed a separate petition against the High Court declining to consider his bail plea.

Kejriwal was arrested by CBI on June 26, 2024, when he was in ED custody in the money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy fraud.

The Supreme Court on July 12 granted Kejriwal temporary bail in the money laundering case but referred his challenge to the ED arrest to a larger bench. But he remained in custody because of the arrest by the CBI that started on March 21.

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