Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal Gets Interim Bail Till June 1

NEW DELHI-  The Supreme Court today gave interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for 21 days and asked the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to surrender on June 2, a day after the polling for the seven-phased Lok Sabha elections is scheduled to end.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to the alleged liquor policy scam. He is currently lodged in Tihar jail under judicial custody.

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The Supreme Court issued a notice to the ED on April 15 concerning Kejriwal’s plea and sought their response. On April 9, the high court upheld his arrest, citing his repeated refusal to join the investigation and attend summonses.

The matter pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government’s now-scrapped liquor excise policy for 2021-22.

However, the Enforcement Directorate opposed Kejriwal’s bail plea and said no leniency should be shown to Kejriwal because of the election and granting interim bail to him would amount to creating a separate class for politicians. It also filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court vehemently opposing any “special treatment” for political figures due to the ongoing general elections.

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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal getting interim bail from the Supreme Court in the liquor policy case is “not less than a miracle”, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bharadwaj told reporters today.

Mr Kejriwal can campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, but has to surrender before the jail authorities on June 2 as the interim bail is valid only till June 1. Votes will be counted on June 4.