Arvind Kejriwal: SC fixes June 26 to hear bail plea; no immediate relief for Delhi CM

Arvind Kejriwal: The Supreme Court on Monday fixed June 26 for hearing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea against the Delhi High Court order putting interim stay on his bail in the money laundering case linked to the alleged excise scam.

A vacation bench of Justices Manoj Misra and SVN Bhatti said it would like to wait for the pronouncement of the high court order on the issue.

Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, sought vacating of the interim stay on the bail order.

“We have challenged the stay order (Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal bail) of the High Court in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court in its hearing observed the order has not been finally pronounced yet so we will have to wait for the High Court’s order,” says advocate Rishikesh Kumar, counsel of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, on Supreme Court hearing.

ASG SV Raju, appearing for the ED, opposed the plea of Kejriwal, and said the high court is about to pronounce the verdict on its stay application.

AAP national convener, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21, could have walked out of Tihar jail on Friday last had the high court not granted the interim stay relief to the federal anti-money laundering agency.

Also read: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to remain in jail as HC orders interim stay on bail

However, Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain issued the order after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenged the trial court’s decision in the High Court.

HC said that it would reserve its decision on whether to stay the trial court’s order, with a detailed ruling expected within two to three days. Meanwhile, the trial court’s bail order for Kejriwal will remain stayed.

“I am reserving the order for two to three days. Till pronouncement of the order, the operation of the trial court order is stayed,” said the judge.

AAP legal cell head Sanjeev Nasiar said the court would give its verdict on the stay order by Monday or Tuesday.

The ED argued that it was not given a fair opportunity to present its case before the trial court, as mandated by Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The trial court had granted bail to Kejriwal on Thursday, citing the lack of direct evidence linking him to the alleged crime and accusing the ED of bias.