Arvind Kejriwal Bail: Delhi High Court defers hearing ED plea for cancelling AAP Chief’s bail to July 15

Arvind Kejriwal Bail: The Delhi High Court has scheduled a hearing for July 15 on the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) plea challenging the bail granted to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case linked to the alleged excise scam.

Previously, the high court stayed the trial court’s June 20 order that granted Kejriwal bail. During the Wednesday session, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna was informed by the ED's counsel that they received Kejriwal’s reply to their petition late Tuesday night and needed time to file a rejoinder.

The ED's lawyer noted, "The copy of the reply was served to us at 11 PM on Tuesday," while Kejriwal’s counsel countered, saying it was given to the investigating officer (IO) at 1 PM.

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, emphasized the urgency of the matter and requested a specific time for the hearing. However, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, for the ED, argued that they required time to review the reply and file a rejoinder.

Raju stated, “The documents are supposed to be served to the advocate appearing in the case and not the IO.” Kejriwal’s lawyer accused the ED of attempting to delay the proceedings and requested an immediate hearing. The court acknowledged that the ED received the reply on Tuesday and granted them time to respond, setting the next hearing for July 15.

On June 20, Kejriwal was granted bail by a trial court on a personal bond of ₹1 lakh. The ED contested the trial court's decision the following day, calling it "perverse," "one-sided," and "wrong-sided," based on irrelevant facts. The high court imposed an interim stay on the bail order on June 21, pending a decision on the ED’s application for interim relief. A detailed order staying the bail was issued on June 25.

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED and the CBI on March 21 and June 26, respectively, in connection with money laundering and corruption cases. The controversial excise policy, scrapped in 2022 following a directive for a CBI probe by the Delhi lieutenant governor, allegedly involved irregularities and undue favours to licence holders, according to the CBI and the ED.

(With inputs from PTI)