The Supreme Court has granted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal interim bail till June 1. The decision was made by a bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta after hearing arguments from both sides.
The interim bail has been issued considering the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, despite the Enforcement Directorate's opposition, stating that election campaigning is not a constitutional right. This interim bail implies that Kejriwal will be free when Delhi goes to the polls on May 25, but he must surrender on June 2.
He will be incarcerated on June 4, the day of vote counting and results.
The court will upload a detailed order outlining the conditions of the bail by the end of the day.
Kejriwal was taken into custody on March 21 in connection with a money laundering case related to a now-defunct excise policy. The interim bail will allow him to leave Tihar jail after more than a month.
The Enforcement Directorate objected to the interim bail for election purposes, arguing that there are no precedents for granting a politician interim bail for campaign purposes. The Supreme Court countered that a 21-day interim bail for Kejriwal would not significantly alter the situation.
The Supreme Court bench hinted on Tuesday at granting Kejriwal interim bail to allow him to campaign for the elections. It was stated that if interim bail were granted, Kejriwal would be prohibited from performing any official duties as Chief Minister. Initially, Kejriwal's counsel, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, objected, but later agreed.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Enforcement Directorate, argued in a previous hearing that there should be no exceptions just because Kejriwal is the Chief Minister. He questioned whether the Supreme Court was creating exceptions for politicians.
He argued, "How can a Chief Minister be treated differently from an ordinary citizen? There can't be any deviation just because he is a chief minister. Is election campaigning more important?" The apex court responded by stating that elections occur once every five years.
