The Supreme Court will on Tuesday consider whether to grant interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is currently in custody in Tihar Jail amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The court will hear the petition challenging his arrest in a money laundering case linked to the excise policy scam.

The possibility of Kejriwal’s participation in campaigning during the remaining phases of the elections hinges on the outcome of the proceedings today.

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A division bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta will take up the plea of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader as its first matter. Kejriwal has been in custody since March 21 and is presently in Tihar jail.

During the May 3 hearing, the apex court indicated a potential consideration of interim bail for Kejriwal in light of the ongoing electoral process.

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The court informed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that due to the likelihood of protracted arguments on Kejriwal’s plea against his arrest, it was contemplating hearing the probe agency’s stance regarding interim bail, taking into account the ongoing Lok Sabha elections in Delhi. Polling for the Lok Sabha elections is scheduled for May 25 in Delhi.

“It appears we can’t complete today. We will post it on Tuesday morning itself. Mr Raju, one more thing. If it is going to take time and it does appear to us that it may take some time, we will then consider the question of interim bail because of the elections,” the bench had told Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who was wrapping up his arguments that day.

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Raju cleared his intention to contest Kejriwal’s bail, citing remarks made by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh upon receiving bail last month in a similar case. “Just look at the kind of statements he is making,” the ASG said.

The bench had notified the agency of the court’s intentions to ensure no surprises arise on May 7, when the interim bail matter will be addressed. “We are not commenting on it either way. We are just saying we will hear on interim bail and not saying we will grant interim bail. We may or may not grant it,” the top court had said.

On April 15, the top court served a notice to the ED and requested its response to Kejriwal’s petition challenging his arrest.

In a decision on April 9, the Delhi High Court upheld Kejriwal’s arrest, saying that it found no irregularities and noted that the ED was left with ‘little choice’ after Kejriwal repeatedly ignored summonses and declined to participate in the investigation.

The case revolves around alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi government’s now-defunct excise policy for 2021-22.