The Delhi High Court will pronounce its order on Tuesday (June 25) on the ED’s plea challenging bail to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal by the trial court.
The high court will decide whether or not to stay the operation of the trial court order granting bail to Kejriwal in the Delhi excise policy case. The court has posted the main matter for hearing in July.
Supreme Court waiting for HC order
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has fixed June 26 for hearing the chief minister’s plea against the Delhi HC order putting an interim stay on his bail in the money laundering case linked to the alleged excise scam. A vacation bench of Justices Manoj Misra and SVN Bhatti said it will like to wait for the pronouncement of the HC order on the matter.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, sought vacating of the interim stay on the bail order. Stating that he is not a flight risk, Singhvi urged the bench to stay the HC order before it is being pronounced. “I know what I am asking. This court must stay the high court order before it is being pronounced just like the high court had stayed the bail order on mere mentioning by the Enforcement Directorate,” he submitted.
Additional solicitor general SV Raju, appearing for the ED, opposed the AAP convener’s plea and said the HC is about to pronounce the verdict on its stay application.
The bench noted that the HC on June 21 asked the parties to file written submissions till June 24 and observed that the order is likely to be pronounced in a day or two. Justice Misra, however, observed that the stay order is normally pronounced the same day and not reserved.
“It’s unusual,” he observed and added that the court would like to wait for the HC order to get the clear picture on the issue. The bench at the outset told Singhvi that pronouncing any order at this stage will be prejudging the issue.
“We will be pre-judging the issue, if we pass any order at this stage. It is not some other court but the high court,” the bench told Singhvi.
A day after a trial court granted bail to Kejriwal on June 20, the HC had paused his release. Arrested on March 21, he could have walked out of Tihar jail had the HC not granted the interim stay relief to the ED.
In its bail order, the trial court held that prima facie, the Delhi CM’s guilt was yet to be established and that the ED had failed to furnish direct evidence linking him to the proceeds of crime in the money laundering case.
The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution. According to the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), irregularities were committed while modifying the policy and undue favours extended to the licence holders.
(With PTI inputs)
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