Arvind Kejriwal hearing: Supreme Court calls delay, ED says interim bail to set wrong precedent
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the ED in March
The Supreme Court, hearing Arvind Kejriwal’s petition against arrest in the excise policy case, on Tuesday questioned the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over the “delay” in the latter’s probe into the matter.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta also asked the agency to produce case files before and after the arrest of former Delhi minister Manish Sisodia, who has been in jail since February 2023.
The Supreme Court noted that the Enforcement Directorate had taken two years to unearth something. It also asked the agency why certain relevant questions were not put before witnesses and accused in the Delhi liquor policy case.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the ED, said in his reply that Arvind Kejriwal was not prime focus of the investigation. However, he said, his role became clearer as the probe progressed.
He said Kejriwal had stayed in a seven-star hotel during the 2022 Goa Assembly polls and part of the bills were allegedly paid by the Delhi government’s general administration department, reported PTI.
The Supreme Court said it would hear arguments over granting bail to Kejriwal till the Lok Sabha elections were underway.
“We can’t ignore there are general elections being conducted. It’s an extraordinary situation,” the court observed.
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The agency replied that there were 5000 cases involving members of parliament across the country. “Will all of them be released on bail?” it said.
The Enforcement Directorate said releasing him on interim bill would set a wrong precedent. It added that a politician has no better right than an ordinary citizen in matters of criminal prosecution.
Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on March 21. He is currently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, in judicial custody.
Arvind Kejriwal had moved the Supreme Court after the Delhi high court upheld his arrest, saying the ED was left with little option but to arrest him as he had not been joining the probe.
With inputs from PTI
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