‘Judge was in a hurry’: What ED told Supreme Court on opposing Arvind Kejriwal's bail plea

Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal being brought out of the courtroom for tea and biscuits after his sugar level dropped, at Rouse Avenue Court in New Delhi on Wednesday. He was taken to the Ahlmad room. (ANI Photo)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the trial court judge was in a “hurry” and did not present an opportunity for the prosecutor to oppose the bail plea of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise scam.

The federal probe agency said the June 20 order of the trial court granting regular bail to Kejriwal was "perverse" for non-compliance of prerequisite mandatory conditions under section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

A vacation bench of Justice Manoj Misra and Justice SVN Bhatti took on record the Enforcement Directorate's reply affidavit filed in Kejriwal's plea challenging the interim stay granted by the Delhi High Court on June 21.

In its affidavit, the ED pointed out that section 45 of the PMLA envisages two mandatory conditions -- public prosecutor be given the opportunity to oppose bail and where the public prosecutor opposes the bail application, the court has to satisfy itself that there exist reasonable grounds for believing that accused is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.

"In the instance case, it is the specific ground raised by the prosecuting agency with specific and concise averments showing that the judge (of trial court) was in a hurry and did not afford a reasonable opportunity to the Additional Solicitor General to oppose the bail," it said while seeking to set aside the June 20 order.

The AAP leader was arrested on March 21 by the ED and granted regular bail by the trial court on June 20.

The trial court approved Arvind Kejriwal's bail order in the excise policy case saying that the initial probe shows that the Delhi CM's guilt was yet to be established. The court further said that ED had failed to present any direct link between Kejriwal and money trail in the case.

The Delhi High Court further stayed Kejriwal's bail order on Tuesday, saying that the lower court did not "appropriately appreciate" the material placed before it by the Enforcement Directorate.

(With inputs from PTI)

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