Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by ED officials on March 21 in connection with alleged irregularities related to the now-defunct Delhi liquor policy.The Supreme Court will consider the possibility of granting interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, allowing him to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta has scheduled a hearing for May 7 to review the interim bail plea, urging both the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Kejriwal’s counsel to come prepared.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief was arrested by ED officials on March 21 in connection with alleged irregularities related to the now-defunct Delhi liquor policy. Having found no relief from lower courts, he has turned to the Supreme Court. He becomes the third high-ranking AAP official implicated in the corruption case, following Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh. Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP, got bail last month.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, said that there is no evidence against the Delhi CM, deeming his arrest unlawful. Singhvi said Kejriwal complied with nine summonses from the ED and argued that non-appearance should not serve as grounds for arrest.
Singhvi added, “All evidence is pre-2023 end. Every material is as in July 2023. Same evidence relied on in Manish Sisodia’s case. Money trail chart was the same.”
On the court’s inquiry about action against AAP, Singhvi refuted any such measures. Referring to Section 70 of the PMLA, which deals with offences by companies, he said, “Anything or everything done by a political party cannot be attributed to its convenor or president. Merely mentioning a company cannot lead to arrest of the MD unless you show something, same thing with AAP.”
Justice Khanna then said, “Any person in overall charge of the company, then you are vicariously liable with the company and then you have to show that it was done without your knowledge.” Singhvi responded, “They say he is the brain behind AAP… he is involved in demand of kickbacks. There is no direct evidence.”
During the proceedings, additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the ED, said he will oppose any interim bail for Kejriwal. To this, the apex court said, “We may grant or we may not grant. But we must be open to you as neither side should be taken by surprise.”