New Delhi:

The BJP’s jibes – “‘kattar beimaan‘ and ‘bail wala‘ Chief Minister” – began hours after the Supreme Court granted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal bail in the alleged liquor policy scam, noting the AAP leader’s “prolonged incarceration (in jail since March) amounts to unjust deprivation of liberty”.

BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia lobbied that particular jab at the Chief Minister, declaring at a press conference, “The Supreme Court has shown a mirror to ‘kattar beimaan (‘outright dishonest’)’ Arvind Kejriwal once again. He has got conditional bail… ‘jail wala‘ is now ‘bail wala‘.”

In addition, the BJP – which has previously demanded Mr Kejriwal resign after being accused of corruption and money-laundering by the CBI and ED – repeated those calls Friday afternoon.

“Most important is that Kejriwal should resign… as per the voice of people of Delhi. But he will not do because he does not have a drop of morality (in him),” Mr Bhatia declared. “He used to say a politician should resign even if there is an allegation… but now he is on bail after being in jail for six months.”

The party’s Delhi unit chief, Virendra Sachdeva, echoed the call. He claimed Mr Kejriwal could not discharge his duties given the bail conditions. “He should step down if he cannot work while in the post,” he said, pointing out also that the court had differed on the second of the AAP leader’s pleas.

READ | “Arrest Legal, But…”: What Court Said While Giving Kejriwal Bail

The Supreme Court has released Arvind Kejriwal but said he cannot visit his office or the Delhi Secretariat while on bail. He also cannot sign off on government files unless his consent is cleared by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, who is the centre’s rep in the national capital

Apart from seeking bail Mr Kejriwal had also asked the court to declare the CBI’s arrest illegal.

On this count, though, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan differed. The former said he found no problem with the federal agency’s move, but the latter questioned its late action.

READ | “Only After Trial Court…” Question For CBI As Kejriwal Gets Bail

Mr Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 and granted bail by the top court on July 12. But he could not leave prison as the CBI had arrested him on June 26, while he was still in the ED’s custody.

His lawyers had criticised the CBI’s arrest as an “insurance” move, arguing the agency had ample time to take the AAP leader into custody from April 2023, when he was called for questioning.

AAP Rejoices

Mr Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita Kejriwal, who delivered fiery political speeches while her husband was in jail, said the BJP’s “plans” had been defeated. They want to jail opposition leaders and stay in power…”

News of Mr Kejriwal’s release was also greeted with great joy by senior AAP leaders and party workers, with Mr Sisodia leading the train of congratulatory messages

WATCH | How Manish Sisodia Reacted The Moment Kejriwal Got Bail 

“Today, once again, truth has won in the fight against lies and conspiracies,” he said, while his successor as Delhi’s Education Minister, Atishi, said “truth can be troubled, but not defeated”.

READ | “Welcome Back, Kejriwal”: AAP Leaders Celebrate Court’s Bail Order

AAP MP Raghav Chadha welcomed the decision and said the party had missed Mr Kejriwal’s leadership. “Welcome back, Arvind Kejriwal, we missed you!” he said on X.

With input from agencies

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New Delhi:

Granting bail to Arvind Kejriwal will not “demoralise” the Delhi High Court, which last month refused the Chief Minister relief over his arrest by the CBI in the alleged liquor policy scam, the Supreme Court said Thursday. A bench of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Surya Kant waved away the federal agency’s argument against releasing the AAP leader, saying, “Don’t say that.”

Appearing for the CBI, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju also argued that Mr Kejriwal had incorrectly bypassed the lower court – i.e., Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court – and approached the High Court for bail.

“He approached High Court without going to Sessions Court… on merits, trial court could have seen it first. High Court can only see in exceptional cases…” he said, declaring releasing Mr Kejriwal now would demotivate the High Court.

The CBI’s logic also drew a sarcastic swipe from AAP MP Raghav Chadha, who posted on X, “If the Sun rises from the East, it will demoralise the West.”

In early August the High Court rejected Mr Kejriwal’s bail plea, directing him to approach the sessions court for relief. The AAP, however, opted to move the country’s top court, citing its observation in the release of ex Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, that “sending the appellant back to the trial court would be like playing a game of snakes and ladders…”

After Thursday’s hearing the top court reserved its verdict on Mr Kejriwal’s bail plea. The court also reserved its verdict on a separate plea challenging the CBI’s arrest of the Chief Minister.

The AAP chief was arrested by the CBI in June; he was taken into custody at the Rouse Avenue Court shortly after securing bail for his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the same case.

READ | “Insurance Arrest By CBI”, Kejriwal Argues For Bail In Supreme Court

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Mr Kejriwal, criticised the CBI’s arrest as an “insurance” to keep the AAP leader in jail for as long as possible, particularly with the Delhi Assembly election due early next year. Mr Singhvi pointed out Arvind Kejriwal had received bail in the ED case, which meant he had fully satisfied the ‘triple test’ legal principle for release.

READ | “Travesty Of Justice”: Manish Sisodia Gets Bail, Supreme Court Slams Delay

It was also pointed out that all others accused in the alleged liquor policy scam – Mr Sisodia and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, as well as Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha – had bail.

READ | ‘Just Because Woman Is Educated…’: Top Court As K Kavitha Gets Bail

“Prolonged incarceration cannot be there…” Mr Singhvi said, referring to statements by the top court in releasing Mr Sisodia, “Is ‘triple test’ satisfied? Yes… in the Manish Sisodia judgment, the court held that in this particular case of excise policy, trial is impossible to finish.”

Mr Kejriwal has been in jail since late-March. He received temporary reprieve in June, before Delhi voted in the general election, but had to return to Tihar Jail after the results were out.

The ED and CBI contend Arvind Kejriwal played a key role in forming of a new liquor excise policy for Delhi, which allowed him to sell wholesale licences and get kickbacks, around Rs 100 crore of which, the authorities claim, came from a ‘South group’ led by the BRS’ K Kavitha.

This money, the agencies allege, was used to fund the AAP’s election expenses in Goa.

Mr Kejriwal, the AAP, and other accused have denied the charge, counter-accusing rivals Bharatiya Janata Party, to whose government at the centre the agencies answer, of mounting a campaign against opposition politicians and parties, particularly before elections.

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New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Monday refused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal immediate relief in his battle to overturn the High Court’s interim stay on a bail order issued last week by a lower court.

The court responded to Mr Kejriwal’s arguments – that the High Court erred in staying bail without fully reading the order, and rationale, of the lower court – by saying it would wait till the said order came on record, and the High Court had a chance to re-examine the stay – before ruling on his plea.

The court fixed Wednesday as the next hearing date; the High Court is expected to deliver its full verdict on Tuesday. “It is not proper to interfere when the High Court has reserved its judgement,” the Supreme Court said, “We will keep this petition for hearing for day after tomorrow.”

This was after Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate – which arrested Mr Kejriwal in the liquor policy case March and has opposed bail and medical relief claimed by the Chief Minister – said the High Court is likely to render its verdict within 24 hours.

Earlier the High Court paused Mr Kejriwal’s bail after a last-gasp challenge from the Enforcement Directorate – filed hours before he was to leave jail – that said the release order was “perverse”.

The High Court immediately put Mr Kejriwal’s release on hold pending further arguments.

On Sunday Mr Kejriwal challenged the stay in the Supreme Court.

“Not Flight Risk”: Kejriwal Asks For Bail

This morning, as the day’s (brief) hearing began, Mr Kejriwal’s lawyers argued that the “balance of convenience” is in the Chief Minister’s favour, reasoning there is no substantial reason for the AAP leader to stay in jail. “If bail is reversed, he will certainly go back to jail… as he did after the Supreme Court’s interim release (to campaign for the election),” senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi said.

He was referring to Mr Kejriwal’s release last month – allowed by the top court – to campaign for his party and the Congress-led INDIA bloc in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP was pegged back and forced to rely on its allies to form the government.

Mr Singhvi also referred to the top court’s order granting Mr Kejriwal that interim bail, in which it acknowledged the AAP leader is not a “habitual offender” and has no criminal antecedents.

“Why can’t I be free in the interim? I have a judgment in my favour…” he continued, responding to the court suggesting the Chief Minister be patient for 24-48 hours till the High Court reads its order.

“If we pass order now, we will prejudge the issue. This is not a subordinate court…” he was told.

Mr Kejriwal’s side argued strenuously the stay order should not be allowed to stand because the lower court’s order had not been released when the High Court listed the ED’s challenge.

“There was only an oral direction to not give effect to the bail order…” his camp pointed out.

“This (Mr Kejriwal’s regular bail order) is a discretionary order passed by a trial court for a person who was (already) released by this honourable court,” senior advocate Vikram Chaudhary said.

“Perverse Order Can Be Stayed”

The ED, however, stressed that a “perverse”, or incorrect, order can and should be stayed.

It also told the court that, in its opinion, the twin conditions for grant of bail under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, under which Mr Kejriwal has been charged, had not been met.

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New Delhi:

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal – on interim bail following his arrest in the alleged liquor policy scam – began his battle for regular bail Thursday afternoon in the city’s Rouse Avenue Court.

He has filed two pleas – for normal bail, and to extend the Supreme Court-ordered interim bail by a week, citing a battery of pending medical tests over potential “health complications” from his diabetes.

In the brief hearing that followed the Enforcement Directorate opposed both pleas. The federal agency sought at least two days to respond and took a swipe at the bail plea on health grounds.

The ED pointed out Mr Kejriwal – whom party sources told NDTV has led 67 rallies or roadshows and given 30 interviews since his release on interim bail – seemed to be in fine condition. The agency also seemed irked by the AAP leader filing his pleas a little over 48 hours before the bail period expires.

“He is not in custody… he is, today, in Punjab campaigning. His health does not hinder him from campaigning… and he moves bail on the last date so we get very little time (to argue),” the ED said.

“His conduct doesn’t entitle him for any orders today,” Additional Solicitor-General SV Raju, appearing for the central agency, told the court, which gave the ED time till 2 pm Saturday to respond.

The Rouse Avenue Court is also due to rule (on June 4, on counting day) on a point of cognisance on the ED’s supplementary chargesheet, which is linked to an associated money laundering case.

READ | Ready To Go To Jail 100 Times To Save Country: Arvind Kejriwal

Mr Kejriwal has been singularly active since his release from jail, leading his party’s charge (and contributing to that of the Congress-led INDIA bloc) ahead of polling in Delhi and Punjab. 

READ | “Give All 13 Seats To AAP”: Kejriwal’s Appeal To Punjab Voters

These are the states where the AAP is in power and send a combined 20 MPs to the Lok Sabha, but the curious case of the alliance with the Congress remains a point of interest. The parties are contesting together in Delhi but as rivals in Punjab, where state leaders have taken regular potshots at each other.

Meanwhile, Mr Kejriwal’s regular release plea today is key since it is the first time he has actively applied for bail. His interim release this month was ordered by the Supreme Court as it was hearing his challenge to the ED’s arrest. The court recognised him as an elected leader and not a habitual offender.

READ | Kejriwal Gets Big Supreme Court Relief. Interim Bail Till June 1

Mr Kejriwal’s interim bail expires June 1, or on completion of polling for the final phase of the Lok Sabha election. He is to report to Delhi’s Tihar Jail authorities 24 hours after that, i.e., June 2. On Tuesday he asked the top court to extend his freedom by seven days so he could finish the tests.

However, the court refused an urgent hearing and also seemed put out by the timing.

It was pointed out the plea could have been filed last week, when Justice Datta – part of the bench that granted interim bail – was hearing cases. “Why did you not mention this (then)…?” the court asked.

Mr Kejriwal was, though, given leave to move the lower court at this time, which he did this afternoon.

In earlier arguments Mr Kejriwal had underlined the row between himself and jail authorities over the supply of insulin. His AAP had claimed he was deliberately deprived of the “life-saving” drug.

READ | “Asking For Insulin Daily”: Kejriwal’s Letter To Jail Officials

That row also reached the courts after Arvind Kejriwal criticised Tihar jail and ED officials for being “petty” and “politicising” his well-being. The probe agency responded by claiming the Chief Minister had deliberately consumed foods high in sugar – like mangoes and toffees, in alleged violation of a prescribed diet chart – to place his health at risk and establish grounds for medical bail.

READ | Kejriwal Claims Tihar Officials’ “Negligence” Took Toll On Health

“My health condition is due partly to the insensitive behaviour of the prison authorities. One more week of bail will allow me to take stock of (possible) health complications,” he had argued.

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