The Supreme Court on Monday scheduled June 26 for hearing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea against the Delhi High Court’s order imposing an interim stay on his bail in the money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam.
A vacation bench comprising Justices Manoj Misra and SVN Bhatti expressed a preference to wait for the high court’s pronouncement on the matter.
Appearing for the Delhi CM, Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi, requested the vacation of the interim stay on the bail order. Singhvi argued that Kejriwal is not a flight risk and urged the bench to stay the high court order before its pronouncement.
“I know what I am asking. This court must stay the high court order before it is pronounced, just as the high court had stayed the bail order on mere mentioning by the Enforcement Directorate,” he stated.
Appearing for the Enforcement Directorate (ED), ASG SV Raju opposed Kejriwal’s plea, noting that the high court is about to issue its verdict on the stay application.
The bench noted that on June 21, the high court had directed the parties to file written submissions by June 24 and observed that the order is likely to be pronounced within a day or two.
‘Unusual’
Justice Misra remarked that typically, stay orders are pronounced the same day and not reserved. “It’s unusual,” he observed, adding that the court would prefer to wait for the high court’s order to gain a clear picture of the issue.
At the outset, the bench informed Singhvi that issuing any order at this stage would be prejudging the issue. “We will be pre-judging the issue if we pass any order at this stage. It is not some other court but the high court,” the bench told Singhvi.
On Friday (21st June), the Delhi high court halted Kejriwal’s release after the trial court granted him bail on June 20.
The Delhi chief minister, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21, could have been released from Tihar jail last Friday had the high court not granted interim stay relief to the federal anti-money laundering agency.
Trial Court’s Bail Order
The trial court, in its bail order held that prima facie, Kejriwal’s guilt was yet to be established and that the ED had failed to furnish direct evidence linking him to the proceeds of crime in the money laundering case. The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption in its formulation and execution. As per ED and CBI, irregularities were committed while modifying the policy, and undue favors were extended to the license holders.
