Kejriwal to Remain in Jail For Now: What Transpired in Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to grant interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering case linked to the alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22 as a two-judge bench adjourned the hearing till May 9 without pronouncing an order. During the hearing, the Supreme Court told Kejriwal’s lawyer that if it gives interim bail to Kejriwal it doesn’t want him to perform official duties as somewhere it will lead to conflict. “We do not want interference at all in the working of the government”, the top court observed, adding that if elections were not there then it would not have given any interim relief. Kejriwal, who the Enforcement Directorate arrested on March 21 was lodged in Tihar jail under judicial custody in the money laundering case.

No Interim Bail For Kejriwal | Here's What Transpired In The Court

• A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said Kejriwal is not a habitual offender. "He is the CM of Delhi and an elected leader. Elections are going on. This is an extraordinary situation. It is not like he is some kind of a habitual offender. We will consider hearing arguments on whether he should be released on interim bail," the court said.
• The ED opposed the top court's view on hearing interim bail for Kejriwal and said the court may not create a separate class for politicians. "There are around 5,000 cases involving MPs pending across the country at this time. Will all of them be released on bail? Is an agriculturist who has a harvesting and sowing season less important than a politician?" Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted.
• Mehta submitted that Kejriwal would not have been arrested had he cooperated in the investigation and evaded nine summons.  He said a narrative is being built successfully that Kejriwal has not done anything but was arrested just before the polls.
• ED told the Supreme Court that Arvind Kejriwal stayed at 7-star Grand Hyatt hotel during the 2022 Goa Assembly election and its bill was paid by Chanpreet Singh, who allegedly accepted cash funds for AAP’s campaign.
• "It is not a politically motivated case. We are not concerned with politics, we are concerned with evidence and we have it,” Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for ED told the apex court. 
• At the nascent stage Arvind Kejriwal was not the focus and ED was not looking at that, but his role became clearer only when the investigation progressed, ED said. 
• Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, staunchly opposed showing any leniency to Kejriwal on account of the Lok Sabha polls and said granting interim bail to the AAP national convenor would amount to creating a separate class for politicians.
• The bench said, "We are not going by whether it is a case of a politician or not a politician. Every particular individual involved has some special or exceptional case or circumstances. We are only considering whether this case requires an exception or if the person involved is in that exceptional circumstance, given the fact that elections are round the corner, that's all." "Please do not take it that we are saying that there's a different law followed for politicians," the bench said.
• Mehta submitted that letting out Kejriwal on the ground of the ongoing elections will set a bad precedent and others will seek similar exemptions.
• "The Court is allowing to open the doors of contingencies just to let out this one person. The public prosecutor will not be able to argue a case if tomorrow a 'kirana' shop owner or an agriculturist comes and seeks relief in a case. I know these are inconvenient arguments," he said.
• He added the moment the court considers granting relief to Kejriwal for the elections it will create a separate class for politicians.
• "There are around 5,000 cases involving MPs pending across the country at this time. Will all of them be released on bail? Is an agriculturist who has a harvesting and sowing season less important than a politician?" Mehta submitted, adding that Kejriwal would not have been arrested had he cooperated in the investigation and not evaded nine summonses.
• The SG urged the bench not to make an exception for Kejriwal as it will send a wrong message and demoralise the common man.
• "Campaigning in elections is a luxury for a politician but for an agriculturist harvesting is not a luxury. That's his bread and butter," he said.
• During the hearing which continued for nearly three hours, the bench said Kejriwal is not a habitual offender.
• "He is the CM of Delhi and an elected leader. Elections are going on. This is an extraordinary situation. It is not like he is some kind of a habitual offender. Normally, the Lok Sabha elections are held every five years," the court said.
• Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, also appearing for the ED, took the court though the statements of witnesses and accused in the case.
• The bench, after hearing the arguments and perusing a note given by Raju, asked why the ED has taken so much time to probe the case. It asked the probe agency to produce the case files before and after the arrest of Delhi's former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who is also an accused in the case. Later, the bench also sought case files, which run into many volumes, of the period prior to Kejriwal's arrest.

Judicial custody of Arvind Kejriwal, Sisodia, Kavitha Extended

Meanwhile, a Delhi court extended the judicial custody of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his party colleague Manish Sisodia and BRS leader K Kavitha in cases related to the alleged excise scam. Special judge for CBI and ED matters Kaveri Baweja extended Kejriwal's custody till May 20 in the money laundering case linked to the alleged scam being probed by the ED, after he was produced before the court through a video-conference on the expiry of his remand granted earlier.

The judge also extended the judicial custody of Sisodia till May 15 in a related corruption case being probed by the CBI. The judge fixed May 15 for further arguments on framing of charges in the corruption case against Sisodia. The court, meanwhile, extended till May 14 the judicial custody of Kavitha in the money laundering case, while her JC in the corruption case was extended till May 20. The judge extended the custody of the Telangana MLC after she was produced before the court on expiry of her remand.