Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s Interim Bail Hearing Raises Questions on Investigation, Election Dynamics

The hearing on the interim bail of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, who is lodged in Tihar Jail in the Delhi Liquor Policy Scam case, has been completed. The court will hear Kejriwal’s mill petition on May 9. ASG SV Raju, hearing the case, said that I want to start talking about the Rs 100 crore hawala transaction. After Manish Sisodia’s bail plea was rejected, a complaint was received and Rs 1100 crore was attached. On this, Justice Sanjeev Khanna said, has this become Rs 1100 crore in two years? You had said that the crime was worth Rs 100 crores then how did it become so much. On this Raju said that the profit made from the policy is Rs 1100 crore. Then Justice Sanjeev Khanna said that you cannot bring the entire profit in the category of crime. Then Raju said that at this time it is up to the discretion of the investigating officer to decide which statement is true and which is not. SV Raju said that when we started the investigation, our investigation was not directly related to Kejriwal. His role came to light during the investigation. That’s why we did not ask a single question about him in the beginning nor was the investigation focused on him. ASG SV Raju further said that factually there is no contradiction in the statements. It cannot be assumed that he is in favor of the petitioner. Raju said that we did not ask a single question till April 25, 2023. Then Justice Sanjeev Khanna asked when was Sarath Reddy arrested? Raju told that on November 10, 2022, all these statements were taken in custody under CCTV surveillance. The court said that you should provide all the statements to the petitioner, then the ED said that there are more things in it. Then the court said to separate them and provide their statements. Justice Sanjeev Khanna asked when did Arvind Kejriwal’s name come up in this case for the first time? ED told the court that in the statement of Buchi Babu on 23 February 2023. Justice Khanna raised questions on the ED investigation and said that if you are saying that being the head of the government, Kejriwal is an accused and is involved in this scam, it took you two years to reach this conclusion? This is not a good thing for an investigating agency. Justice Khanna asked ED lawyer whether you maintain case diary.

We want to see the file notings. The Supreme Court said that the only issue is why you did not interrogate Kejriwal in the beginning and why were you delaying. On which SV Raju said, if I start asking about Kejriwal from the very beginning, it will be termed as malicious. It takes time to understand, we can’t just do it overnight. Things need to be confirmed. It takes time. Justice Sanjeev Khanna said that Lok Sabha elections are going on. This is an extra ordinary situation. Kejriwal is the elected Chief Minister. The Solicitor General opposed the hearing on the interim bail petition and said that the court should not consider it. Giving interim bail for election campaign would not be right. This will send a wrong message to people. The Supreme Court said that elections are held every 5 years. This happens every 6 months. There is no harvest. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that thousands of cases are pending in MP/MLA court.

The Supreme Court said that if we reserve the decision then it will have to be announced. If we decide to accept the petition again, this phase of election campaign will be over. Thus we grant interim relief in exceptional cases. SG Tushar Mehta said that such is a common man and the period ends. The Supreme Court said that yes, you are right. SG said that Delhi CM is the only CM who does not have a portfolio. He does not sign any file. Even the Prime Minister signs the files and this includes ministries. The Supreme Court told Kejriwal’s lawyer Singhvi that ED says that a common man cannot be discriminated against, then summons were avoided 9 times, then the allegations against you show your involvement. Lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi said. That this court has spent some time to see whether this man is immersed in crime. He is not a habitual criminal. Elections are held first in Punjab and on 25th May in Delhi. Earlier, while granting bail, the Supreme Court had said that it cannot stop a person from addressing political speeches etc. The trial court had given conditions like non-publicity, but the Supreme Court overturned it. What about a Chief Minister without portfolio? There have also been Prime Ministers without portfolio. Are these constitutional arguments? The Supreme Court said that if elections had not been held then the question of granting bail would not have arisen. Justice Khanna said that we are not hearing the interim bail because Kejriwal is a politician. There may be some special and extraordinary circumstances for each person. We are trying to see whether elections are such an extraordinary situation for Kejriwal? In the last hearing, the Supreme Court had asked the ED what would be the conditions of interim bail and whether the Chief Minister of Delhi can sign any file during the interim bail or not. The court had said that if it takes time, we will consider interim bail because of the elections. On this, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the ED, had said that he would oppose the grant of interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal. He had pointed to the statements given by Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh after he got bail last month. After this, the court had said that it is informing the agency about the intention of the bench, so that when the issue of interim bail comes up on May 7, it is not caught by surprise. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, had said that there was no evidence against the Delhi Chief Minister and his arrest was illegal. Kejriwal had responded to all the 9 summons of ED. Failure to appear before the investigating agency cannot be a basis for arrest. Advocate Raju, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, had given the basis for Kejriwal’s arrest. He said that the decision to arrest Kejriwal was not only taken by the investigating agency but was also taken by a special judge. Raju said that Kejriwal had challenged his arrest in the High Court. But his petition was rejected from there. The court had asked whether any action has been taken against the Aam Aadmi Party? Responding to this, Singhvi did not hesitate to say that, referring to Section 70 of the PMLA relating to offenses committed by companies, he said, the convenor or president cannot be held responsible for anything or everything done by a political party. Is. Mere mention of a company cannot lead to the arrest of the MD unless you show something. Same is the case with Aam Aadmi Party. Let us tell you that Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by ED on March 21. He is lodged in Tihar jail for the last 40 days. Kejriwal has reached the Supreme Court after not getting relief from the lower courts. He is the third prominent Aam Aadmi Party leader to be arrested in a corruption case after Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh. Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh has been released on bail.

Also Read: Delhi Court Extends Arvind Kejriwal’s Judicial Custody in Excise Policy Case Until May 20