Arvind Kejriwal granted interim bail by SC till June 1 in excise policy case, permitted for campaigning amidst LS polls

The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the excise policy case. According to his lawyer, there is no restriction on his election campaigning in the ongoing Lok Sabha 2024 polls. 

"We are passing an interim order...giving him interim bail till June 1,” reported Live Law, quoting the apex court.

Appearing for Kejriwal, advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi requested the court to grant him interim bail until the declaration of results on June 4. 

However, the bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta rejected the request and directed the Delhi CM to surrender on June 2.

“There is no restriction on his election campaigning. We will try for his release today itself,” reported ANI, quoting Supreme Court lawyer Shadan Farasat, representing Arvind Kejriwal.

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposed the bail on the grounds of electioneering and said that no such precedents were available.

However, the court stated that granting Kejriwal interim bail for 21 days would not make much of a difference, reported PTI.

On Thursday, opposing Kejriwal's bail, the ED had filed an affidavit saying, no principle justified giving preferential treatment to a politician for campaigning over a farmer or a businessman pursuing their livelihood.

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Stating that the activity of every citizen is equally important to him or her, ED had said that granting interim bail merely for political campaigning would militate against and be discriminatory to the rule of equality.

Questioning the probe agency's objection to the interim bail, Kejriwal's legal team lodged a formal complaint with the Supreme Court's registry and denounced the ED's affidavit as a blatant disregard for legal procedures.

In the objection, the Aam Aadmi Party stated that not a single rupee or piece of evidence had been recovered incriminating anybody from the party despite two years of investigation.

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On Tuesday, the apex court had said that if Kejriwal was granted interim bail, it did not want him to perform official duties.