(Image source from: PTI)
The Supreme Court on Friday granted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal interim bail till June 1 in a money laundering case related to Delhi's liquor ban policy. He is expected to be released from Tihar Jail today and has been asked to hand over to prison authorities by June 2. A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Dutta passed the order after a brief hearing on Mr Kejriwal's application for interim bail. The petition filed by Mr Kejriwal was challenging his arrest in the Delhi liquor policy case and his subsequent application for interim bail to enable him to contest the Lok Sabha elections. The move will boost the AAP's electoral prospects as Kejriwal will be able to contest for the party in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, especially in Delhi and Punjab states where the party is in power. Delhi and Punjab will vote on May 25 and June 1 respectively.
Mr. Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 and is currently lodged in Tihar Jail in Delhi. During the hearing, the Supreme Court bench asked Kejriwal to surrender on June 2. “Let’s not make comparisons.” He was arrested in March. June 1 is the last day of the seven-stage Lok Sabha elections. The votes will be counted on June 4th. Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented Kejriwal during the hearing, asked the court whether Kejriwal could be granted interim bail until June 5. “No,” Qazi Khanna replied. Advocate Tushar Mehta, appearing for the emergency department, told the court that Kejriwal should not talk about the incident and should surrender on a specific date.
Mr Kejriwal's lawyer Shadan Frost said efforts were continuing to secure the prime minister's release from Tihar Jail. The interim bail runs until June 1st. He must surrender on June 2nd. They said this verbally. After the judgment was uploaded to the Supreme Court website, nothing else was included in it. We'll see what happens. We are. Frost said: We are doing our best to ensure that Kejriwal is released today. According to sources, after granting interim bail by the Supreme Court, Kejriwal's lawyer will appear before the court where a bail order will be prepared and sent to Tihar Jail. They added that Kejriwal would be released only after the prison authorities received the court's release order. This official continued: Generally, all freedom orders received daily at Tihar Jail are processed in about an hour.
AAP, a member of India's opposition bloc, has joined hands with leaders like West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress MP Mamata Banerjee and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray (son of Uddhav Thackeray). Ms Banerjee said in a tweet that Mr Kejriwal's interim release "will be very useful in view of the current elections". “I am very pleased that Shri Arvind Kejriwal @ArvindKejriwal has been granted interim bail. This will be very helpful in view of the current elections,” he said. Aaditya Thackeray said the Supreme Court's interim bail order for Kejriwal was a harbinger of the "winds of change". It's a big sign that the winds of change are blowing @ArvindKejriwal ji Justice and redress for the dictatorship in this country and that's what the BJP hates He tweeted: "Block India" from constitution and democracy. We will protect ourselves. Delhi and Haryana Congress leader Deepak Babaria praised the Supreme Court's order and alleged that the BJP had hampered Kejriwal's election campaign.
"It is the BJP's policy to lock up all opposition leaders and hinder their election campaign in any way," he said. The ED on Thursday rejected Kejriwal's interim bail. The CBI, in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, said the right to publicity was not "fundamental". “The right to publish is not a fundamental, constitutional or statutory right. As far as the ED is concerned, no one can be granted interim bail even if he has not contested the election,” the affidavit said. Well-known political leader.” Meanwhile, the ED is also expected to file its first chargesheet against Kejriwal in the liquor policy case. This is the first time that Kejriwal has been named as an accused in the case. The ED allegedly claimed that Mr Kejriwal was a "key person" in the "scam" and was directly involved in demanding bribes from liquor barons.
