The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case. It comes after the AAP leader challenged his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case.
Notably, Kejriwal became the third AAP leader after Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh to walk out of jail after securing bail in the excise policy case. He already has been granted an interim bail in the Enforcement Directorate’s money laundering case.
The Supreme Court bench, comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, had reserved its verdict on the pleas on September 5. Kejriwal had filed two separate petitions challenging the denial of bail and his arrest by the CBI in the excise policy case.
The top court, while saying that the arrest made by CBI was unjustified, asserted that prolonged imprisonment “amounts to unjust deprivation of liberty”. The bench, however, considered that the arrest of Kejriwal by the CBI on June 26 was valid and in compliance with relevant procedural laws.
Setting conditions for the bail, Justice Bhuyan restricted Kejriwal from entering the Chief Minister’s Office or signing files. The AAP leader agreed to these conditions, as imposed by another bench while granting him bail in the ED case.
Justice Bhuyan, in his judgement, raised questions over the timing and manner in which the Delhi CM was arrested by the CBI in the excise policy case.
“Non-cooperation cannot mean self-incrimination, and therefore, Kejriwal’s arrest by the CBI on this ground was impermissible,” he said.
Reading out the judgement, Justice Bhuyan said, “Bail is the rule, and jail an exception. All courts must ensure that the prosecution and the process of trial doesn’t become a form of punishment in itself.”
Regarding procedural violations, Justice Kant rejected Kejriwal’s plea regarding arrest by the CBI in the excise policy case.
Kejriwal was arrested by the CBI on June 26. In the Supreme Court, the Chief Miniter challenged the Delhi High Court’s August 5 order which upheld his arrest in the corruption case. The high court had noted that the loop of evidence against Kejriwal was closed after collection of relevant evidence following his arrest by the CBI and it cannot be said that it was without any justifiable reason or illegal.
The high court had also granted him the liberty to approach a trial court with his plea seeking bail in the case. The matter relates to alleged corruption in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22, which has now been scrapped.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Thursday said he and other members of the party are “hopeful” and are waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision on Kejriwal’s bail. Chadha, who was in Haryana, also appealed to voters to choose the AAP in the October 5 assembly elections.
“We are very hopeful. We are waiting for tomorrow,” Chadha told reporters.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also lodged a separate money laundering case linked to the excise policy ‘scam’. According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to licence holders.
On July 12, the top court had granted interim bail to Kejriwal in the money laundering case. The top court had referred to a larger bench, preferably of five judges, for in-depth consideration of three questions on the aspect of “need and necessity of arrest” under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED had on March 21 arrested Kejriwal in connection with the money laundering case. During the arguments on September 5 on Kejriwal’s plea in the corruption case, the Chief Minister had vehemently opposed in the top court the CBI’s contentions that he should have approached the trial court first for bail in the corruption case.
Questioning the maintainability of Kejriwal’s pleas, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the CBI, had submitted that even in the money laundering case in which he had challenged his arrest by the ED, he was sent back by the apex court to the trial court.
