Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party Supremo Arvind Kejriwal will have to return to Tihar Jail tomorrow (2nd June) as a local court on Saturday reserved the order on his interim bail plea for June 5 in connection with his arrest in an alleged money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped liquor policy case.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has moved the court, seeking interim bail for a week on medical grounds. In response, SGI Tushar Mehta (representing the ED) claimed that the Delhi Chief Minister was actively campaigning in different states for the elections and had not gone through any medical tests.
“He is neither sick nor needs any special care, which isn’t available in jail. He has gained one kg. His argument that he has lost 7 kg is false from the record,” he said.
N Hariharan, Senior Advocate, representing Kejriwal, argued that the interim bail was sought to allow him to campaign for his national party, emphasizing that if he had not campaigned for his national party and then fallen ill, it would have been criticized.
During the hearing at the Rouse Avenue Court, representatives of the ED asserted that the Supreme Court’s order prohibited him from filing an interim bail extension plea, allowing only a regular bail plea.
Referring to a press conference done by Kejriwal yesterday, SGI Tushar Mehta said that the Chief Minister made a statement that he would surrender tomorrow but did not disclose the fact that he was taking a chance with the court by filing the interim bail application. He said that Kejriwal is not voluntarily surrendering.
ASG SV Raju, also appearing for ED, submitted that by filing the interim bail application, Kejriwal is requesting an extension of the Supreme Court’s order, which is not permissible. He said that though liberty was granted to Kejriwal by the Supreme Court registry that he could apply for regular bail, there was no liberty for an extension of interim bail.
Raju further argued that Kejriwal, in order to get interim bail, has to be in custody.
”Application for interim or regular bail can’t be granted unless he is in custody. He is not in custody. If he is not in custody, the application is not maintainable. He has to surrender. There is no control of this court; there is no order of this court granting interim bail,” he said.
He further argued that unless a prima facie case is made out that there is no offense, the application for interim bail cannot be granted.
“The fourth submission is that Section 439 has concurrent jurisdiction. He could have moved to HC or this court. If he wanted interim protection without going into the rigors of Section 45, he should have moved the High Court,” he said.
Raju further alleged that Kejriwal wants to cheat the court by delaying the medical tests as well as the interim bail application. He said that if any tests are required to be conducted, facilities will be provided to Kejriwal in jail, and if required, he will be taken to AIIMS or any other hospital.
The apex court had granted Kejriwal 21-day interim bail on May 10, which ends today, to allow him to campaign during the Lok Sabha polls.
AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are also accused in the case. While Sisodia continues to remain in jail, Singh was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court pursuant to a concession given by the ED.
ED has alleged that Arvind Kejriwal is the “kingpin” of the Delhi excise scam and is directly involved in the use of proceeds from crime, amounting to over Rs. 100 crore.
