Arvind Kejriwal has moved the Supreme Court against the Delhi high court’s August 5 decision which upheld his arrest in the Delhi excise policy case.
Arvind Kejrwal bail plea hearing: The Supreme Court is set to deliver on Friday, September 13, its verdict on Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s petitions seeking bail and challenging his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the excise policy case.
Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha said they are “hopeful” and are waiting for the Supreme Court’s judgment on Arvind Kejriwal’s bail.
According to the cause list of September 13 uploaded on the Supreme Court website, a bench headed by Justice Surya Kant is slated to pronounce the verdict at 10.30am. The bench, also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, had on September 5 reserved its verdict on the pleas.
Top updates on Arvind Kejriwal bail plea hearing in SC
- Arvind Kejriwal has filed two separate petitions challenging the denial of bail and against his arrest by the CBI in the corruption case filed by the federal probe agency.
- The AAP national convener was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 26.
- Arvind Kejriwal has challenged in the top court the Delhi high Court’s August 5 decision which upheld his arrest in the corruption case. The high court had noted that the loop of evidence against Arvind Kejriwal got closed after collection of relevant evidence following his arrest by the CBI and it cannot be said it was without any justifiable reason or illegal.
- The Delhi high court had also granted Kejriwal liberty to approach a trial court with his plea seeking bail in the case.
- The matter relates to alleged corruption in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22, which has now been scrapped.
- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also lodged a separate money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy “scam”. Arvind Kejriwal had been arrested by the ED on March 21 in connection with the case.
- According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to licence holders.
- On July 12, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case. The court referred three key questions related to the “necessity of arrest” under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to a larger bench, ideally consisting of five judges, for detailed examination.
- During a hearing on September 5 regarding his plea in the corruption case, Kejriwal strongly opposed the CBI’s argument in the Supreme Court that he should have sought bail from the trial court first.