In a major relief for Arvind Kejriwal, Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to the Delhi Chief Minister till the end of Lok Sabha elections, which is June 1.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, will have to surrender and go back to jail on June 2.
The bench, however, refused the request of senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, that the interim bail be granted till June 5 — a day after the votes are counted and result are declared on June 4, PTI reported.
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The conditions of his bail are yet to be known. Shadan Farasat, a lawyer representing Kejriwal, said, “The court pronounced a very short oral order, we have not yet seen the written order. So, we don’t know the exact contents of the written order. The court said they are releasing Mr Kejriwal on an interim release/bail until June 2, and there are no conditions on what he can say and what he cannot say during the campaigning process and while he is out in these 20-22 days. We are hoping that this order is uploaded today, and then we will update the appropriate procedure for his release.”
On Thursday, the Enforcement Directorate opposed the move to grant interim bail to Kejriwal saying that “any special concession” to him will “amount to anathema to the rule of law and equality… thereby creating two separate classes in the country viz. ordinary people, who are bound by the rule of law as well as the laws of the country, and politicians who can seek exemption from the laws”.
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Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in a money laundering case in connection with the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy scam. The Delhi CM has been in custody since and was currently lodged in Tihar Jail.