Hearing highlights | No immediate relief for Arvind Kejriwal, Supreme Court to hear plea against HC’s stay on bail on June 26

“Orders on stay application was reserved and till then the lower court order granting bail was stayed. Parties were given the opportunity to file short submissions by June 24. ASG submits that the order on the stay application would be passed shortly and it would be appropriate if this Court adjourns the matter so that there is an opportunity to see the order”, the Bench dictates the order. 

“Normally, in stay applications, orders are not reserved. They are passed on the spot. It is a bit unusual. Anyway, we will have it the day after tomorrow”, Justice Misra says. 

The vacation Bench posts the case for the day after tomorrow. It further says that the Delhi High Court’s stay order, if passed, in the interregnum, should be placed on record. 

Mr. Singhvi asks the Bench why the Supreme Court has to be so deferential to the High Court. 

“The High Court has passed an interim stay on the oral mentioning of S.V. Raju without waiting for the order to be uploaded. We should not have suffered a stay at all. This is a question of personal liberty”, he adds. 

ASG S.V. Raju submits the High Court may pass the stay order tomorrow. 

Justice Misra suggests posting the case next week to wait for the Delhi HC’s order imposing an interim stay on the bail order. 

“How do we know what is going on in the High Court’s mind?”, he adds. 

Mr. Chaudhuri points out that the ED had filed the appeal in the Delhi High Court even before the order of the trial court was uploaded. 

“There are five paragraphs devoted to bail grounds in the order”, he adds. 

Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta says that the trial judge saw this as a high-profile case. 

“Everybody is an “aam aadmi” before the Court”, Mr. Mehta adds. He points out that the trial judge had continuously asked ED to cut short its arguments and that she had not gone through the papers. 

The trial court judge took what was relevant for bail and used its discretion to grant bail, Mr. Chaudhari notes.

Mr. Singhvi further argues that the Delhi HC had prejudged the issue by staying the bail. He points out that the ED had not argued that Mr. Kejriwal was a flight risk. 

“[ED] is asking for the reversal of bail on the perversity of the bail order, not on grounds of bail”, Mr. Singhvi adds. 

Senior advocate Vikram Chaudhari representing the Delhi CM argues that Mr. Kejriwal does not have any criminal antecedents. 

“Case remained pending since August 2022. Legality of arrest is still under challenge. He is CM of Delhi”, he adds. 

“If we pass an order, it would be like prejudging the issue”, Justice Misra says. 

“Balance of convenience is on my side. How will ASG SV Raju compensate me for loss of time in liberty after the grant of bail?”, Singhvi submits. 

Justice Manoj Misra says – “Order is likely to come in a day or two. The High Court had asked for written submissions by June 24.”

Responding to this, Singhvi says – “Yes, but why cannot I be free? The trial court judgment of June 20 is in my favour.” 

Senior advocate AM Singhvi further argues that the Delhi CM had previously surrendered as per the Supreme Court’s order and that he is not a flight risk. A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta had earlier granted him bail to campaign in the Lok Sabha polls. 

The senior counsel further highlights that the Delhi CM is not a flight risk. 

SC grants interim bail to Kejriwal till June 1; bars him from visiting CMO or signing any official files

The Bench refused the request of senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Mr. Kejriwal, that the interim bail be granted till June 5 - a day after the votes are counted on June 4.

Senior advocate AM Singhvi apprises the Bench that bail granted is diverse from bail cancelled and that two different norms are involved while granting these reliefs. 

“Unprecedented to pause bail order on the first day of hearing”, he says. 

Senior advocate AM Singhvi is appearing for the Delhi CM. ASG SV Raju is representing the ED. 

The Central agency failed to provide evidence to link Kejriwal to the proceeds of the crime and stayed quiet on many aspects of the case, the court noted. It also came down heavily on the ED’s arguments that investigation was an art, “....because if it is so, then, any person can be implicated and kept behind the bars by artistically procuring the material against him after artistically avoiding/withdrawing exculpatory material from the record. This very scenario constrains the court to draw an inference against the investigating agency that it is not acting without bias,” the court said. 

Read more here. 

Trial court order had come down on ED ‘bias’ in Kejriwal case

Delhi court criticizes biased actions of ED against Arvind Kejriwal in excise policy case, bail granted then put on hold.

A vacation bench comprising Justices Manoj Misra and SVN Bhatti will hear the Delhi CM’s plea today. The matter is listed as item number 44. 

After a day-long hearing on the Enforcement Directorate’s plea challenging the bail granted to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case, the Delhi High Court on June 21 put on hold the trial court’s order.

“Till the pronouncement of this order, the operation of the impugned order (of the trial court) shall remain stayed,” a Vacation Bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain said, adding that he was reserving the order for two-three days as he wanted to go through the entire records.

Read more here.

A Delhi court on June 20 granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi Excise policy of 2021-22. Vacation judge, Rouse Avenue Court, Niyay Bindu passed the order after hearing Mr. Kejriwal and the ED at length. The bail order was dictated by the judge in an open court on June 20 evening. 

Read more here. 

Arvind Kejriwal granted bail in Delhi Excise policy case

Arvind Kejriwal bail news: Delhi court grants bail to Arvind Kejriwal in money laundering case; judicial custody extended till July 3.