New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering case filed by the ED in the alleged excise policy scam, but he will remain in jail. as the CBI later arrested him in a related matter.
The top court said it is for Kejriwal to decide whether he should continue as chief minister.
"We are aware of the fact that Arvind Kejriwal is an elected leader," a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said, while noting that Kejriwal has suffered imprisonment for more than 90 days.
He also referred issues regarding the legality of his arrest in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case to a larger bench.
The court said since the matter pertains to right to life and the issue of arrest has been referred to a larger court, Kejriwal will be released on interim bail.
The top court raised three issues relating to power, the need for arrest under section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the arrest policy by the ED.
He said Kejriwal will be released on interim bail in terms of the conditions of the May 10 order.
While releasing Kejriwal on interim bail on May 10 for campaigning during the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the high court had imposed conditions on him that he would not visit his office or the Delhi Secretariat during the period of his bail. provisional. Apart from imposing a slew of conditions, it had asked Kejriwal not to sign any official record unless it was absolutely necessary to get the lieutenant governor's sanction during the 21-day interim bail period.
On May 17, the top court had reserved its verdict on Kejriwal's plea questioning the legality of the ED's arrest of him on March 21 in the case.
On April 15, the top court had sought a response from the ED on Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest in the money laundering case.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief challenged in the high court the Delhi High Court's April 9 order confirming his arrest in the case.
The high court had upheld Kejriwal's arrest in the case, saying there was no illegality in it and the ED had "little options" after he skipped repeated summons and refused to join the probe.
On June 20, a trial court here granted him bail on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh in the case.
However, the ED had moved the Delhi High Court the next day and held that the trial court's order granting bail to Kejriwal was "perverse", "one-sided" and "mistaken" and that the findings were They were based on irrelevant facts.
On June 21, the high court imposed an interim stay on the trial court's bail order until an order on ED's interim relief application was passed. On June 25, the high court had passed a detailed order staying the trial court's order.
Kejriwal was also arrested by the CBI on June 26 in connection with the corruption case related to the alleged excise policy scam.
The plea challenging the arrest of him by the CBI is pending before the Delhi High Court.
The matter relates to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22, which has now been scrapped.
The top court said it is for Kejriwal to decide whether he should continue as chief minister.
"We are aware of the fact that Arvind Kejriwal is an elected leader," a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said, while noting that Kejriwal has suffered imprisonment for more than 90 days.
He also referred issues regarding the legality of his arrest in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case to a larger bench.
The court said since the matter pertains to right to life and the issue of arrest has been referred to a larger court, Kejriwal will be released on interim bail.
The top court raised three issues relating to power, the need for arrest under section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the arrest policy by the ED.
He said Kejriwal will be released on interim bail in terms of the conditions of the May 10 order.
While releasing Kejriwal on interim bail on May 10 for campaigning during the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the high court had imposed conditions on him that he would not visit his office or the Delhi Secretariat during the period of his bail. provisional. Apart from imposing a slew of conditions, it had asked Kejriwal not to sign any official record unless it was absolutely necessary to get the lieutenant governor's sanction during the 21-day interim bail period.
On May 17, the top court had reserved its verdict on Kejriwal's plea questioning the legality of the ED's arrest of him on March 21 in the case.
On April 15, the top court had sought a response from the ED on Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest in the money laundering case.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief challenged in the high court the Delhi High Court's April 9 order confirming his arrest in the case.
The high court had upheld Kejriwal's arrest in the case, saying there was no illegality in it and the ED had "little options" after he skipped repeated summons and refused to join the probe.
On June 20, a trial court here granted him bail on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh in the case.
However, the ED had moved the Delhi High Court the next day and held that the trial court's order granting bail to Kejriwal was "perverse", "one-sided" and "mistaken" and that the findings were They were based on irrelevant facts.
On June 21, the high court imposed an interim stay on the trial court's bail order until an order on ED's interim relief application was passed. On June 25, the high court had passed a detailed order staying the trial court's order.
Kejriwal was also arrested by the CBI on June 26 in connection with the corruption case related to the alleged excise policy scam.
The plea challenging the arrest of him by the CBI is pending before the Delhi High Court.
The matter relates to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22, which has now been scrapped.
