Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal has appealed to the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court’s interim stay on his bail in the money laundering case related to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.
Kejriwal’s lawyers informed Bar & Bench that they will request an urgent hearing on Monday.
On Friday, Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain of the High Court issued an interim stay on the trial court’s order granting bail to Kejriwal.
The trial court had granted bail to Kejriwal on Thursday, setting a bail bond of ₹1 lakh.
Special Judge Niyay Bindu of the Rouse Avenue Court noted that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) failed to provide any direct evidence linking Kejriwal to the proceeds of the crime and could not show that another accused, Vijay Nair, was acting on Kejriwal’s behalf.
The judge also remarked that the ED appeared biased against Kejriwal.
The ED immediately appealed to the Delhi High Court, securing an urgent hearing and requesting a stay on the bail order.
The High Court reserved its decision on the stay request but issued an interim stay on the bail order until the final decision is announced.
“I am reserving the order for two to three days. Until the pronouncement of the order, the operation of the trial court order is stayed,” the High Court stated.
This led to Kejriwal’s appeal to the Supreme Court.
Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21, accused of being part of a conspiracy to intentionally leave loopholes in the Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22 to benefit certain liquor sellers.
The ED alleged that kickbacks received from liquor sellers funded AAP’s electoral campaign in Goa and claimed Kejriwal, as the National Convenor of the party, was both personally and vicariously liable for money laundering.
Kejriwal has denied the allegations, accusing the ED of running an extortion racket.
Other AAP leaders arrested in the same case include former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Member of Parliament Sanjay Singh. Singh is currently out on bail, while Sisodia remains in jail.
The Supreme Court granted Kejriwal interim bail in May to allow him to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. He returned to jail on June 2 after the interim bail period ended.
Kejriwal’s request for interim bail on medical grounds was rejected by the trial court on June 5. However, his regular bail plea on merits was subsequently approved by the trial court, prompting the ED to appeal to the High Court.
The High Court’s interim stay on the trial court order led to the current appeal before the Supreme Court.
