The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on the pleas filed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking bail and challenging the Delhi High Court’s order upholding his arrest by the CBI in a corruption case stemming from the alleged excise policy scam.
After hearing counsels representing Kejriwal and CBI, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan reserved the order.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for CBI, objected to Kejriwal for not approaching the trial court for bail.
Kejriwal had directly approached the Delhi High Court for bail and then moved to the apex court.
“He approached the High Court without going to the Sessions Court. This is my preliminary objection. On merits, trial court could have seen it first. The High Court was made to see merits and it can only be in exceptional cases. In ordinary cases, sessions court has to be approached first,” ASG told the bench.
Raju said Kejriwal seems to be an “extraordinary person” who requires a different approach. “He is an influential political personality. All other ‘aam aadmis’ have to go to the sessions court,” ASG added.
Raju further said that if Kejriwal comes out on bail, witnesses will turn hostile.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, told the bench that the Supreme Court had released him twice, once in May to campaign for election and the second time he was granted interim bail in the case registered by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy case.
CBI arrested Kejriwal on June 26 even though no arrest ever happened in two years, he said, adding that it was a case of insurance arrest.
Singhvi further said that Kejriwal is not a threat to society; he is not a hardened criminal.
The top court was hearing the plea of Kejriwal against his arrest and a separate plea seeking bail in the case.
On August 5, the Delhi High Court upheld the arrest of the Chief Minister as “legal.” It had dismissed Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest, saying it was only after sufficient evidence was collected and sanction was obtained in April 2024 that the CBI proceeded with further probe against him.
The High Court had said there was no malice in the acts of the CBI, which demonstrated how Kejriwal could influence witnesses who could muster the courage to depose only after his arrest.
It had said Kejriwal is not an ordinary citizen but a distinguished recipient of the Magsaysay Award and the convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party.
“The control and the influence which he has on the witnesses is prima facie borne out from the fact that these witnesses could muster the courage to be a witness only after the arrest of the petitioner, as highlighted by the special prosecutor,” it had said in its order.
Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21, 2024, in connection with a money laundering probe relating to alleged irregularities in the now-cancelled Delhi excise policy 2021-22.
On June 26, 2024, AAP Chief was arrested by CBI while he was in custody of the Enforcement Directorate in the case.
(With inputs from ANI)
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