The Supreme Court has granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering case related to an alleged excise policy scam. However, Kejriwal will remain in Tihar Jail because he’s also been arrested by the CBI in another corruption case linked to the same scam.
The court referred Kejriwal’s petition challenging his arrest by the ED to a larger bench. It framed three questions about the ED’s power to arrest and the need for such arrests, emphasizing the need for proportionality in such cases where ED officers have considerable discretion.
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Kejriwal will be released on interim bail under conditions set earlier on May 10. Despite this, he’ll stay in custody due to the separate CBI investigation into the excise policy matter.
The court clarified that it cannot direct Kejriwal to step down as Delhi’s chief minister because of his arrest. It noted that this decision rests with Kejriwal himself.
The AAP party expressed satisfaction with the court’s decision, posting “Satyameva Jayate” on its official handle. Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh, who’s also involved in the case, claimed that Kejriwal has been wrongly accused and criticized the government for what he called false cases and dictatorship.
Kejriwal was arrested in March by the ED over corruption allegations related to a scrapped liquor sales policy. While a trial court granted him bail on June 20, the Delhi High Court later stayed this order.
Earlier today, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj highlighted the significance of the Supreme Court’s decision, hoping it would curb misuse of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act if Kejriwal’s arrest is deemed illegal.