5 May’ 2024, New Delhi – The Supreme Court will today pass its order on Delhi interim bail of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case. A bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna on Wednesday told Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, counsel for the Enforcement Directorate, that it may pass orders on interim relief to Kejriwal on Friday. Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in connection with a money laundering probe related to alleged irregularities in the (now defunct) Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
Chief Minister illegally ‘picked up’
AAP said the ED illegally ‘picked up’ a sitting chief minister and the national convenor of a national party, five days after the general elections were announced on March 21 and the Model Code of Conduct came into force.
The party said the ED has not only been opaque and dictatorial in its approach, but is also guilty of suggestio falsii (suggesting lies) and suppressio vera (suppressing the truth).
The party said, “The arrest of Arvind Kejriwal is an attack on the principles of democracy based on ‘free and fair elections’ and ‘federalism’. ED misused its power of arrest in the middle of general elections. Whereas he had it months before his arrest. Kejriwal filed an appeal arguing that his arrest after the announcement of general elections was “motivated by extraneous considerations”.
High Court rejects petition for release from jail
Earlier on April 9, the High Court had rejected his petition for release from jail. His argument of political vendetta amid Lok Sabha elections was rejected. The high court had said that Kejriwal’s absence from nine ED summons in six months undermines any claim of special privilege