Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday withdrew his plea before the Supreme Court challenging the interim stay imposed by the Delhi High Court on the bail granted by the trial court in the money laundering case connected to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. This came shortly after Mr. Kejriwal was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with a corruption case related to the alleged scam.
Senior advocate Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi apprised a vacation Bench of Justices Manoj Misra and SV Bhatti that he intends to withdraw the present plea to file a fresh one challenging the final order passed by the High Court on June 25. Accordingly, the Bench acceded to the request and permitted the Delhi CM to file a fresh plea.
Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain of the High Court on June 25 stayed the trial court order granting bail to Mr. Kejriwal saying that the judge did so “without going through and appreciating the entire material brought on record by the rival parties”. Special Judge Niyay Bindu of Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court on June 20 had ordered the Delhi CM’s release highlighting that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had failed to procure any direct evidence linking him with the proceeds of the crime.
Justice Jain however made it clear that nothing in his order should be taken as an opinion or observation on the merits of the ED’s main petition challenging the trial court order. That matter is listed for hearing on July 10.
The Delhi CM was arrested by the ED on March 21. The agency had alleged that Mr. Kejriwal was the ‘kingpin’ in the Delhi Excise policy scam. After remaining in jail for weeks, he was released on May 10 by the Supreme Court to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. He returned to jail on June 2 after the apex Court denied him any further relief.
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