The Supreme Court has allowed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to withdraw his plea challenging the interim stay by the Delhi High Court on his bail granted by a trial court last week. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief will file a fresh petition challenging the Delhi HC’s final order reversing the bail in the Delhi excise case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

A vacation bench of Justices Manoj Misra and SVN Bhatti passed the order on Wednesday after senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for the Delhi CM requested to withdraw the plea.

Singhvi said since the high court has given its final order on June 25 and Kejriwal has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) “there will be no option for me but to withdraw and challenge both the June 21 and June 25 orders of the HC in a new special leave petition (SLP).”

Referring to CBI arrest, Singhvi said, “Events are overtaking us every day. In the case where CBI interrogated us last in 2022, we are now being arrested.”

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday upheld its interim stay on a trial court order granting Kejriwal regular bail in the liquor policy case.

The High Court said that the lower court “didn’t apply its mind” when granting bail and cited lapses in judgement, including not allowing the prosecution enough time to argue the application and failing to properly discuss conditions for release in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), under which the AAP chief was charged.

“Averments and allegations made in the main petition (in which the prosecution challenged Mr Kejriwal’s bail order) require due consideration…,” the High Court said, declaring the lower court had also failed to “discuss the vicarious liability of Arvind Kejriwal under Section 70 of the PMLA”.

“This court has (therefore) decided that the vacation judge (in the Rouse Avenue Court, Niyay Bindu) did not appropriately appreciate material on record and the averments of ED,” the High Court said.

“Accordingly, the application is allowed and operation of the impugned order is stayed.”