Delhi excise policy case: Supreme Court grants bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal who has been jailed for the last six months in the corruption case linked to the the Delhi excise policy case Two months ago Arvind Kejriwal was granted bail for a few days ahead of the Lok Sabha ElectionsA bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan granted the relief to Kejriwal on a bail bond of Rs 10 lakh and two sureties The top court directed Kejriwal not to make any public comment on the merits of the Delhi excise policy caseSupreme Court grants bail to Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal in a corruption case registered by CBI in the alleged excise policy scamSupreme Court says prolonged incarceration amounts to unjust deprivation of liberty pictwittercom6LoZkISNO4mdash ANI ANI September 13 2024A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan granted the relief to Kejriwal on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 10 lakh and two sureties of like amountKejriwal who was arrested by the ED in the Delhi excise policy case on March 21 was granted interim bail on May 10 for campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls and has been in jail since June 2 when he surrenderedThe top court directed Kejriwal not to make any public comment on the merits of the case and added that terms and conditions as imposed in the ED case would also be applicable hereThe top court while granting him bail in the ED case had said that Kejriwal cannot visit his office or the Delhi Secretariat and not sign any official file unless absolutely necessary to obtain the Lieutenant Governors sanctionIt said completion of trial was unlikely to occur in the immediate future and rejected the apprehension of tampering by KejriwalJustice Bhuyan who wrote a separate judgement concurred with Justice Kant on grant of bailHowever Justice Bhuyan questioned the timing of Kejriwals arrest by the CBI and said the agencys aim was to frustrate grant of bail to him in the ED caseI fail to understand the CBIs urgency to arrest Kejriwal on cusp of release in the ED case when it did not do so for 22 months Justice Bhuyan saidHe said the CBI cant justify arrest and continued detention citing evasive replies by Kejriwal and added that noncooperation cannot mean selfincriminationThe CBI must dispel notion of being a caged parrot must show it is an uncaged parrot Justice Bhuyan saidIt would be travesty of justice to keep Kejriwal in custody when he has got bail in the ED case on the same grounds he saidJustice Bhuyan said he has serious reservations on the conditions imposed in the ED case on Kejriwal which bar him from entering the CMs office and signing filesI am not commenting on conditions imposed on Kejriwal due to judicial discipline as it was in separate ED case he addedThe bench had on September 5 reserved its verdict on the pleasKejriwal has filed two separate petitions challenging the denial of bail and against his arrest by the CBI in the corruption case filed by the central agencyThe AAP chief was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI on June 26 He has challenged in the apex court the Delhi High Courts August 5 order which upheld his arrest in the corruption case linked to the the Delhi excise policy caseOn July 12 the apex court had granted interim bail to Kejriwal in the money laundering caseThe top court had referred to a larger bench preferably of five judges for indepth consideration of three questions on the aspect of need and necessity of arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLADuring the arguments on September 5 on Kejriwals plea in the corruption case the chief minister had vehemently opposed in the apex court the CBIs contentions that he should have approached the trial court first for bail in the corruption case Questioning the maintainability of Kejriwals pleas Additional Solicitor General S V Raju appearing for the CBI had submitted that even in the money laundering case in which he had challenged his arrest by the ED he was sent back by the apex court to the trial courtWith inputs from PTI