SC grants interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal in PMLA case, says he should take a call on stepping down as CM
Kejriwal however will not be released as he is under CBI arrest and in remand; SC refers to larger Bench the question whether accused can invoke ‘need and necessity of arrest’ as a separate ground to quash his arrest
The Supreme Court on July 12 granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in money laundering charges linked to the Delhi excise policy case, but asked him to take a call on whether he should now step down from office in light of the allegations arraigned against him.
A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta underscored that Mr. Kejriwal occupies an office of influence as well as constitutional importance.
Also Read: SC hearing highlights on July 12
The court cannot direct an elected leader to step down from the office of a “functional” Chief Minister, Justice Khanna said.
It would be better if Mr. Kejriwal himself made a decision, Justice Khanna noted.
This is the second time the Supreme Court has allowed interim bail to Mr. Kejriwal. The first instance was on May 10, allowing the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections. Mr. Kejriwal had surrendered on June 2.
Justice Khanna said Mr. Kejriwal deserved interim bail. His rights of life and liberty were “sacrosanct”. He has been incarcerated for over 90 days.
However, the Chief Minister would not be actually released from custody. He was separately arrested by the CBI under the Prevention of Corruption Act in connection with the excise policy case on June 25.
Why did the Delhi High Court uphold Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest in excise policy case? | Explained
The judgment on Friday further referred to a larger Bench questions raised by Mr. Kejriwal on the need and necessity to arrest him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
While noting that a need for interrogation cannot be the sole ground for arrest under Section 19 of the PMLA, Justice Khanna said the larger Bench ought to examine and lay down specific parameters for arrest under the PMLA.
The court, in this regard, noted that arrest, currently under the PMLA, was initiated on the “subjective opinion” of the investigating officer unlike the grant of statutory bail under Section 45 of the Act which involved discretion of a court of law.
One of the questions referred to the larger Bench include whether an accused could raise the “need and necessity of arrest” as a separate ground to quash the arrest.
Why has CBI arrested Arvind Kejriwal and what happens next? | Explained
The judgment came on a petition filed by Mr. Kejriwal against his arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) under the PMLA on March 21.
The Bench had reserved the petition for judgment on May 21 while allowing Mr. Kejriwal to separately approach the trial for regular bail under Section 45 of the PMLA.
Subsequently, a Special Court granted Mr. Kejriwal statutory bail under Section 45 of the PMLA on June 20. Bail under PMLA is applied for in the Special Court under Section 45 of the Act. An accused seeking bail has to satisfy the stringent twin conditions that he is prima facie innocent and is not likely to commit an offence in the future.
But the Delhi High Court stayed the bail on June 25.
The ED has alleged Mr. Kejriwal’s involvement in the channeling of ₹45 crore in “kickbacks” out of a ₹ 100 crore in “bribe” to AAP coffers to campaign for the Goa Assembly elections in 2022.
The agency has claimed the kickbacks were sent via hawala operators and Mr. Kejriwal was the “kingpin” behind the scam.
Senior advocate AM Singhvi, for Mr. Kejriwal, has countered these allegations, saying the ED had nothing to show that any money came to his client or was used in the Goa election campaign.
He submitted that Mr. Kejriwal’s arrest came a year-and-half after the ED registered a case in August 2023. It had no new evidence against Mr. Kejriwal, except “zero-weight” statements recorded from accused-turned-approvers till July last year.
Mr. Singhvi had asked why the ED had waited from July 2023 till March 2024 to arrest Mr. Kejriwal.
The senior lawyer had accused the ED of suppressing evidence against Mr. Kejriwal when his rights of life and liberty were at stake. Eom
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