Supreme Court may consider granting interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Noting that the arguments on Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest may take time, the Supreme Court on Friday said it may consider granting interim bail to him in the excise policy “scam” in view of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

The apex court asked additional solicitor-general S.V. Raju to take instructions (from the Centre) on what conditions should be imposed in case it decides to grant interim bail and adjourned the matter till Tuesday.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta told Mr Raju, appearing for the ED, that the hearing on Mr Kejriwal’s plea against arrest is likely to take time and, therefore, the court was considering hearing the anti-money laundering probe agency on interim bail to him.

When Mr Raju said he will be opposing interim bail to Mr Kejriwal, the bench said: “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 court asked the ASG to come prepared for arguments on the interim bail plea on Tuesday. Justice Khanna told the ASG: “It does appear we will not be able to complete today. So keep it on Tuesday morning itself… If it’s going to take time, it does appear it’s going to take time, we may then consider the question of interim bail because of the elections. We may hear you on that because of the elections. Let’s be very clear on that.”

Justice Khanna said: “Please also take instructions on what are the conditions (to be put in place in case it decides to grant interim bail)… because of the position you hold, whether you should be signing any files, official files.”

When Mr Raju pointed out that the election is one of the grounds raised in the petition by Mr Kejriwal challenging his arrest, Justice Khanna said: “Maybe. But that’s for interim bail… We may hear you on that… We must be open to you because neither side should be taken by surprise.”

Referring to the interim bail granted to AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, Mr Raju told the bench: “Look at the statements he is making.”

Mr Raju also told the bench: “Your statement will be blown out of proportion.” “That is the problem with an open court,”

Justice Khanna said, adding that the court was not saying it will grant or not grant bail. “We are not saying either way… We have been open about it. Do not assume anything,” he told both the parties.

The apex court is hearing Mr Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest by the ED in the money laundering case linked to the excise policy “scam”. Mr Kejriwal is now in judicial custody in Delhi’s Tihar Jail after his arrest on March 21 in the case.

The high court had on April 9 upheld Mr 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.