Supreme Court Refuses To Consider ED's Objection To Arvind Kejriwal's Statement That He Won't Be Back In Jail If Votes Are Given For AAP

The Supreme Court on Thursday (May 16) refused to act against the statements made by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that if votes were given to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), he would not have to go back to jail.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta was hearing Kejriwal's petition challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the alleged Delhi liquor policy case. Last week, the Court allowed the release of Kejriwal on interim bail till June 1 for the purposes of election campaigning. One among the bail conditions imposed by the Court was that he should not speak in public about his role in the case.

During the hearing, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, brought the attention of the bench to the statement of Kejriwal.

"He says if you vote for broom (election symbol of AAP), I won't have to go to jail on June 2. How can he say this?," the SG said. The SG termed Kejriwal's statement as a "slap on the system."

"It's a slap on the system by the petitioner. Petitioner treats him as a special person. We treat him as any other person. Please see what he said on first day. Your lordships said he will not say about the case," SG said.

Justice Khanna however replied, "No, we said he will not discuss his role in the case."  When SG reiterated Kejriwal's statement that he would not have to go back to jail if AAP wins, Justice Khanna said, "That's his (Kejriwal's) assumption, we don't know. What we felt was justified, we said. Our order was very clear. We specifically said we are not making exception to anybody"

"We will not go into this.." Justice Khanna added.

Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, said that he is going to file an affidavit regarding a statement made by "a highest Minister of the country" about the Supreme Court's interim bail to Kejriwal. Singhvi was impliedly referring to the statement made by Union Minister Amit Shah in a press interview that the Supreme Court's order was not routine and that many people felt that a special treatment was given.

In response, Justice Khanna said that the criticism of the judgment was welcome.

"We welcome critical analysis of the verdict," Justice Khanna said.

The hearing of the case is ongoing. Live updates can be followed here.