SC to consider interim bail for Arvind Kejriwal due to elections

The Supreme Court on Friday told the Enforcement Directorate that it would consider hearing arguments on the interim bail plea of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy-linked money laundering case on account of the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta told Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the ED, that the hearing on Kejriwal's plea against arrest is likely to take time and therefore, the court was considering hearing the probe agency on interim bail to him.

Raju said he will be opposing interim bail to Kejriwal. "We are saying we will hear on interim bail and not saying we will grant interim bail. We may or may not grant interim bail," the bench said. The top court asked Raju to come prepared for arguments on the interim bail plea on May 7.

The bench is hearing Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest by the ED. The Delhi chief minister is currently lodged in Tihar Jail here under judicial custody after his arrest on March 21. The top court issued the ED a notice on April 15 and sought its response to Kejriwal's plea.

On April 9, the high court upheld Kejriwal's arrest, saying there was no illegality and the ED was left with "little option" after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation.

The matter pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.