The Rouse Avenue Court issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday regarding Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s bail petitions in the Excise Policy money laundering case. Kejriwal, through his legal team, has filed two separate bail applications.
The first application seeks regular bail in the ED’s case, while the second requests a seven-day interim bail extension on medical grounds. Both applications will be heard by Special Judge Kaveri Baweja.
Appearing for the ED, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju stated that he had just received a copy of the bail application and required at least two days to respond.
Raju argued that there were significant issues to be addressed, including the timing and Kejriwal's conduct. He highlighted that despite claiming health issues, Kejriwal had been actively campaigning in Punjab.
Raju asserted that Kejriwal’s conduct did not entitle him to any bail. The Special Judge has scheduled a detailed hearing for June 1, 2024, and has asked the ED to file its detailed reply.
Previously, Kejriwal had approached the Supreme Court for an extension of his interim bail. However, on Wednesday, the Supreme Court rejected his plea, stating that since he had been given the liberty to seek regular bail from the trial court, the plea for extension was not maintainable.
Kejriwal was granted interim bail by Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta on May 10 and was ordered to surrender to Tihar jail on June 2.
The Supreme Court had reserved its verdict on Kejriwal’s challenge to the validity of his arrest by the ED in the Excise Policy money laundering case on May 17.
The Court clarified that since the order on the challenge to the arrest was already reserved, Kejriwal’s plea for an extension of interim bail had no relation to the main petition.
On May 28, the Rouse Avenue Court reserved its order on the cognizance point of the ED’s supplementary chargesheet filed against Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in connection with the money laundering case. The Court will pronounce its order on June 4, 2024.
The ED had filed the chargesheet on May 17, 2024, in the Rouse Avenue Court. On May 10, the Supreme Court had granted Kejriwal interim bail till June 1, prohibiting him from visiting the Office of the Chief Minister and the Delhi Secretariat. Kejriwal was required to surrender on June 2.
Kejriwal’s appeal to the Supreme Court challenged a Delhi High Court judgment that dismissed his plea against the ED’s arrest and subsequent remand in the excise policy case.
Kejriwal argued that his arrest, following the announcement of the General Elections, was motivated by extraneous considerations.
The Delhi High Court had previously dismissed Kejriwal’s plea for release from jail on April 9, rejecting his argument of political vendetta.
The Court noted that Kejriwal’s repeated absence from ED summons undermined his claims of special privilege as Chief Minister, and his arrest was deemed an inevitable consequence of his non-cooperation.
Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in connection with a money laundering probe related to alleged irregularities in the now-cancelled Delhi excise policy for 2021-22.
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