New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday (May 10) granted Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal interim bail till June 1. He has been asked to surrender again on June 2.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, stated that the results for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections would be declared on June 4, but the bench said that since campaigning would end 48 hours before the last date of polling, June 1 was a fair date.
Lawyer Shadan Farasat, also representing Kejriwal, told reporter, “The order is operable till June 2. There are no restrictions on what he can say or not say in his election campaigning.”
On Thursday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a new affidavit opposing the grant of interim bail to Kejriwal for election campaigning. Campaigning is not a fundamental or legal right, the ED argued, and so cannot be grounds for bail.
On March 21, the Delhi chief minister had been arrested by the ED in connection with a money laundering case linked to the excise policy of 2021. The Aam Aadmi Party has consistently held that the case is a witch-hunt orchestrated by the Bharatiya Janata Party in an attempt to destabilise the opposition.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta has been hearing Kejriwal’s petition against his arrest by the ED in the alleged liquor policy case. Earlier during the hearing, the court had questioned the ED regarding the timing of the arrest – coming after the announcement of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The bench had also made clear that they were not inclined to allow Kejriwal to fulfil chief ministerial duties if released on bail.
Earlier this week, Delhi lieutenant-governor (LG) V.K. Saxena had recommended a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into allegations of the Delhi chief minister receiving political funding from the banned Sikhs for Justice organisation. The Aam Aadmi Party had said this is a move by a “rattled” Bharatiya Janata Party.