Arvind Kejriwal granted interim bail till June 1 in Delhi excise policy case

Locals watch as a large banner of jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hangs from the balcony of a building during his wife Sunita Kejriwal’s election roadshow for the Lok Sabha polls, in New Delhi, on April 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Supreme Court on May 10 gave Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal interim bail till June 1 for campaigning in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said Mr. Kejriwal, arrested in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, will have to surrender and go back to jail on June 2.

Also read | Follow LIVE Updates on Arvind Kejriwal bail hearing here

The Bench refused the request of senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Mr. Kejriwal, that the interim bail be granted till June 5 – a day after the votes are counted on June 4.

Opposing the interim bail, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that Mr. Kejriwal did not respond to summons by the ED three or four times citing elections.

“He was arrested in March”, Justice Khanna reasoned.

The apex court is hearing Mr. Kejriwal’s plea challenging Delhi High Court’s last month verdict upholding his arrest in the case.

The matter relates to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government’s now scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.

A Bench on May 7 while mulling over the grant of interim relief to Mr. Kejriwal acknowledged that the situation was “extraordinary” as Lok Sabha elections are held only once in five years. They, however, said that it would be wrong on the part of the Chief Minister to exercise his official duties or sign files if he were to obtain interim bail.