Delhi HC announces order to stay Kejriwal’s bail on June 25

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court is expected to pronounce its order on Tuesday on the appeal filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking a stay on the trial court’s judgment granting bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi excise case.

A bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain on leave will pronounce the verdict on June 25 at around 2.30 p.m.

On June 21, the court reserved judgment on the ED’s appeal after hearing detailed representations from both the central investigation agency and Kejriwal. Kejriwal’s bail order has been stayed until the Delhi HC announces its decision on the ED’s appeal.

During the previous hearing, Deputy Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, representing the ED, argued that the court’s bail order was “perverse” and contrary to the mandate of Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Raju said, “The order of the trial court should be set aside immediately. We were not given an opportunity to present our case before the trial court. When I tried to present my case, the court said I have to pronounce the verdict. Be brief.”

Senior advocate Vikram Chaudhari, representing Kejriwal, opposed the ED’s submissions and raised preliminary objection to the case being taken up for vacation, pointing out that the trial judge had granted bail with a reasoned order. Questioning the ED’s move, Chaudhari said, “What is the justification for approaching the Supreme Court? Why is there a desire to take up the matter for vacation? There can be no question of any adjournment.”

ASG Raju further stated that material was placed before the court but was not considered. He said, “There are two ways in which bail can be cancelled. If relevant facts are not considered and irrelevant facts are considered, that is a ground for cancellation of bail.”

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi challenged the ASG’s argument that he was not given an opportunity to respond, pointing out that the hearing before the trial court lasted for five hours, of which the emergency hearing took 3.45 hours and the rest was for Kejriwal’s counsel.

Singhvi said, “So where is the question as to why the ED was denied an opportunity to present its case?” and rejected the ASG’s submission.

On June 20, in a great relief for Kejriwal, Rouse Avenue Court vacation judge Niyay Bindu granted him bail in the Delhi liquor case.

The court asked Kejriwal to furnish a personal bond of Rs 100,000.

Shortly after the decision was announced, the ED requested the court to grant it 48 hours to sign the bail bond so that the decision could be challenged before the Court of Appeal.

However, the judge did not grant this request and refused to stay the order. He ordered that the bail must be presented before the duty judge by Friday. The Court of First Instance made it clear to the ER that there was no stay of the bail order.

Earlier, Justice Kaveri Baweja of the same court had on June 5 rejected Kejriwal’s bail plea on the grounds that his involvement in the crime could not be ruled out. The ED had told the court that Kejriwal was the mastermind and main conspirator in the Delhi liquor case and said, “We have all the evidence against him.”

After his petition was rejected by the Delhi High Court on April 9, Kejriwal approached the Supreme Court on April 10 to protest against the dismissal of his plea seeking arrest and remand in the case.

Kejriwal maintained his innocence in the liquor scandal and told the court during the hearings that the timing of his arrest, right after the announcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), was intended to humiliate, insult and hamper him and his political party.

The ASG reiterated that there was sufficient evidence against Kejriwal and that he was the main conspirator in the case.

On May 10, the Supreme Court granted Kejriwal bail till June 1 to contest election campaigns and ordered him, under certain conditions, to surrender on June 2. Kejriwal had been lodged in Tihar Jail since March 21 for alleged involvement in the Delhi Tax case.