X/Arvind Kejriwal
Update: The Delhi High Court has granted the Enforcement Directorate's plea to suspend the trial court's bail order for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering case related to an alleged excise scam today. Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain's bench stayed the bail granted to Kejriwal by the trial court on June 20. The decision came after the ED contested the trial court's ruling, which has now been put on hold pending further proceedings. The court has scheduled the main matter for July, where the ED's challenge against Kejriwal's bail will be heard.
Delhi HC allows Enforcement Directorate's plea to stay the trial court's bail order for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case linked to the alleged money laundering excise scam.
— ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2024
The bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain stays the Arvind Kejriwal bail… pic.twitter.com/A4XL3FKdm1
The Delhi High Court is set to deliver its verdict tomorrow at 2:30 pm on the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) challenge against the trial court's decision granting bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Last Friday, the High Court had stayed Kejriwal's release, which was granted by the trial court on June 20, and directed both parties to submit written arguments by June 24.
In its submission, the ED asserted that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) benefited significantly from funds related to a liquor scam and accused Kejriwal of playing a vicarious role under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The agency criticized the trial court for allegedly disregarding crucial evidence demonstrating Kejriwal's deep involvement. According to the ED, AAP utilized approximately Rs 45 crore from the proceeds of crime during the 2022 Goa Assembly elections, alleging Kejriwal's complicity in money laundering.
On Sunday, Kejriwal approached the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court's interim stay on his bail. However, the apex court's vacation bench, comprising Justices Manoj Misra and SVN Bhatti, decided to await the Delhi High Court's ruling before proceeding further. Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, sought the vacation of the interim stay, emphasizing Kejriwal's cooperation and asserting that he is not a flight risk.
Assistant Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the ED, opposed Singhvi's plea, highlighting that the High Court's decision is imminent. Justice Misra noted the usual practice of High Courts to deliver stay orders promptly and expressed the Supreme Court's intent to await clarity from the Delhi High Court before making any decisions.
The Supreme Court has scheduled the next hearing for June 26, following the Delhi High Court's anticipated ruling. Earlier, the Rouse Avenue court in Delhi had granted bail to Kejriwal, who was arrested by the ED in March in connection with the excise policy case. Subsequently, the ED swiftly moved the Delhi High Court seeking a stay on the trial court's bail order, leading to the interim stay on Kejriwal's release. Kejriwal's legal team reacted promptly, filing an appeal in the Supreme Court to challenge the interim stay and seeking resolution of the ongoing legal disputes.
The Delhi Liquor Scam is a political scandal concerning the Delhi Government, which paved its way through the introduction of Delhi's Excise Policy from 2021 to 2022. This policy brought in private firms and enterprise companies into the retail liquor sectors. The allegations involve favouring the owners and shareholders of private sectors, waivers and reduction of license fee and creation of numerous licenses to all the new incoming enterprises, and bribery.
The Excise policy 2021–22 created by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), projected it as a reform in the excise and retail liquor sector, thereby boosting the revenue by Rs 9,500 crores. This policy mainly focused on moving out the retail sector, and making way to large private sectors and firms. The policy was structured by a group of ministers from the cabinet, and the draft was approved and accepted by the government in March 2021.
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