"Could Have Arrested Earlier Or Later": Supreme Court On Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been granted bail by the Supreme Court today, allowing him to resume his campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The court asked the leader to surrender on June 2 for questioning in an alleged money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy.

While granting him bail, Supreme Court Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta emphasized that Mr Kejriwal is the leader of a national party and does not pose any threat to the society.

"Arvind Kejriwal is the Chief Minister of Delhi and a leader of one of the national parties. No doubt, serious accusations have been made, but he has not been convicted. He does not have any criminal antecedents. He is not a threat to the society," the court said.

"Granting Kejriwal interim bail for 21 days will not make much of a difference. 21 days here or there should not make a difference," the bench added.

Arvind Kejriwal, a prominent figure in the opposition alliance challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP, was detained in March amid a long-standing corruption probe. His arrest was met with accusations of political conspiracy, with several leaders within his party questioning the timing of the arrest.

The Supreme Court also observed that the investigation has been going on for the last 1.5 years, but Mr Kejriwal was arrested in March, days before voting for the Lok Sabha polls began.

"The ED's Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was registered in August 2022 while the chief minister was arrested on March 21 this year. He (Kejriwal) was out there for one-and-a-half years. He could have been arrested earlier or after but nothing such thing happened."

The Delhi Chief Minister was arrested by ED in March in a corruption case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy.

The ED's case is that the Delhi liquor policy 2021-22 provided an exceptionally high profit margin of 12 per cent for wholesalers and nearly 185 per cent for retailers. A key focus of the investigation into the Delhi liquor policy case was on an alleged network of middlemen, businessmen and politicians which the central agencies have called the "South Group".

The Supreme Court, while granting Mr Kejriwal bail till June 1, said that elections are an important part of a democracy and this ruling will not raise questions about politicians getting benefits that common citizens do not.

"It is no gain saying that General Elections to Lok Sabha is the most significant and an important event this year, as it should be in a national election year. Between 650-700 million voters out of an electorate of about 970 million will cast their votes to elect the government of this country for the next five years. General Elections supply the vis viva to a democracy," the court said.

"Given the prodigious importance, we reject the argument raised on behalf of the prosecution that grant of interim bail/release on this account would be giving premium of placing the politicians in a benefic position compared to ordinary citizens of this country," the bench added.