Arvind Kejriwal Bail Petition: SC will hear Delhi CM's plea on Friday

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that it may hear Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's interim plea on May 10 in the ongoing money laundering probe in the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy case. “We will pronounce the interim (bail) order on Friday. The main matter related to the challenge to arrest will also be taken on the same day," said Justice Sanjiv Khanna.

The Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) national convenor was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 and is presently detained in Tihar Jail, where he remains in judicial custody.

SC's bench comprising Justice Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta reserved its verdict on Tuesday after hearing both sides' arguments as Kejriwal sought a bail to help campaign in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.


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However, the SC warned Kejriwal that if they were to give him a bail, he will not be allowed to interfere in the working of the Delhi government as such a move could have a "cascading" effect.

"Suppose we grant you interim bail on account of elections. Then if you say you will attend office, it may have a cascading effect. If we give you interim bail, we don't want you to perform official duties as somewhere it will lead to conflict of interest. We don't want your interference at all in the working of the government," the bench told senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, Kejriwal's counsel.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, ED’s counsel, disagreed with giving a bail to Kejriwal under the guise of LS polls. He claimed that granting the Delhi CM an interim bail would amount to creating a separate class for politicians.

However, the bench said that it was only considering if Kejriwal’s case required an exception.

“We are not going by whether it is a case of a politician or not a politician. Every particular individual involved has some special or exceptional case or circumstances. We are only considering whether this case requires an exception or if the person involved is in that exceptional circumstance, given the fact that elections are round the corner, that's all," the court said.

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"Please do not take it that we are saying that there's a different law followed for politicians," the bench said.

Mehta insisted that an exception must not be made for Kejriwal as it could demoralise India's common man.

"Campaigning in elections is a luxury for a politician but for an agriculturist harvesting is not a luxury. That's his bread and butter," he said.