Supreme Court Adjourns Arvind Kejriwal's Bail Plea In CBI Case Till September 5

The Supreme Court on Friday (August 23) adjourned the hearing of  Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's pleas challenging his arrest and seeking bail in the case registered by the CBI over the alleged Delhi Liquor Policy scam, after the CBI sought time to file a counter-affidavit in the matter.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan posted the matter on September 5 for hearing.

At the outset of the hearing, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju sought time to file a counter-affidavit in one of Kejriwal's petitions. He submitted that CBI's counter-affidavit has been filed in the other petition. Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, on the other hand, submitted that one counter-affidavit was filed yesterday night at 8 PM with a deliberate design that the same does not reach the bench.

Granting time to the CBI for filing a counter-affidavit, and to Kejriwal to file a rejoinder (if any), the bench posted the matter to September 5.

Kejriwal's latest petition before the Supreme Court, filed through Advocate-on-Record Vivek Jain, challenges the Delhi High Court order of August 5, whereby his plea against CBI arrest was dismissed by a Single Judge bench with liberty to approach the trial Court for bail.

The AAP chief was formally arrested by CBI on June 26, 2024, while he was in custody of the Enforcement Directorate in the money laundering case arising out of the alleged liquor policy scam.

Weeks later, on July 12, the Supreme Court granted Kejriwal interim bail in the money laundering case, while referring his petition challenging ED arrest to a larger bench. However, he continued to remain in judicial custody due to his arrest by the CBI.

Challenging the CBI arrest and seeking bail, Kejriwal moved the Delhi High Court. On August 5, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna dismissed his plea challenging CBI arrest, but insofar as bail was concerned, liberty was given to approach the trial Court. Aggrieved by the High Court order, Kejriwal approached the Supreme Court.

On the last date (ie August 14), the Supreme Court issued notice on the plea, but clarified that it was not granting interim bail to Kejriwal. During this hearing, Singhvi argued that Kejriwal got interim bail on three occasions in the money laundering case despite the stringent rigors of Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (Ref: the interim bail orders passed by the Supreme Court on May 10 and July 12, and the regular bail order passed by the trial court on June 20).

Further, the senior counsel questioned how Kejriwal could be denied regular bail in the CBI case, when he had gotten bail under the PMLA, since the Prevention of Corruption Act does not have stringent conditions similar to the money laundering law. Notably, he termed the arrest by the CBI an "insurance arrest", which was made on June 26 on the cusp of Kejriwal's release in the ED case.

For a detailed background of the case, click here.

In related news, former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, a co-accused in the liquor policy case, was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court taking into account his prolonged pre-trial incarceration (of about 18 months) and the delay in trial. The Court allowed Sisodia's bail applications in both the CBI and ED cases, observing that he was deprived of his right to speedy trial.

Case Title: Arvind Kejriwal v. Central Bureau of Investigation, SLP(Crl) No. 11023/2024 (and connected case) 

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