Arvind Kejriwal verdict: SC grants bail to Delhi CM in excise policy case, AAP chief to walk out of jail

The Supreme Court granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the excise policy case. In a plea, Kejriwal had sought bail and questioned his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the excise policy case. While granting him bail in the case, the Supreme court said Kejriwal satisfies the triple condition for the grant of bail and we order accordingly.

Kejriwal will now walk out of jail nearly six months after he was first arrested – first by the Enforcement Directorate and later by the CBI. Kejriwal was arrested by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on March 21. Later, the CBI arrested him on June 26 this year.

Kejriwal was lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail. He was briefly out of the jail amid Lok Sabha election campaign.

Arvind Kejriwal bail verdict: Why did SC grant bail to Kejriwal?

1. The Supreme Court said there is "no impediment in arresting a person already in custody." Notably, the CBI had arrested Kejriwa while he was still in the judicial custody.

Justice Bhuyan said, "It appears only after TC granted regular bail to appellant in ED case, that CBI became active and sought custody." He added, “It [CBI] didn't feel need to arrest for over 22 months. Such action raises serious question on arrest itself.”

During the hearing in the Supreme Court on September 5, Advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, had said that the CBI did not arrest the Delhi CM for nearly two years in the alleged excise policy scam.

Singhvi had said an 'insurance arrest' was made on June 26 after he got bail in the “harsher” money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The ED arrested Kejriwal on March 24 this year, and the CBI arrested him on June 26 – while Kejriwal was still in custody.

Singhvi said that the CBI arrested Kejriwal between May 10 – when the Supreme Court granted him bail for the Lok Sabha elections – and the Supreme Court's verdict of July 12. Kejriwal returned to jail on June 2, and the next judgment was on July 12. The Supreme Court granted Kejriwal interim bail in the money laundering case on July 12. 

“Then, on June 25, this arrest took place in the CBI case even though no arrest ever happened in three years,” the lawyer was quoted by Bar and Bench as saying.

Justice Surya Kant, who was among the judges delivering the verdict on Friday, said, "We have noted that the CBI, in their application, recorded reasons as to why they deemed it necessary. There is no violation of S.41A(iii)"

2. The Supreme Court further noted that the completion of trial is unlikely "to occur in immediate future" and concluded that Kejriwal "satisfies [triple] test for bail".Meanwhile, Justice Bhuyan said the "CBI's appearance raises more questions than it answers".

The court said that it has framed three questions based on arguments. "We have framed 3 questions. Whether there was illegality in arrest, whether appellant should be allowed regular bail, whether filing of chargesheet is change in circumstance enough to relegate to TC," Justices Surya Kant was quoted by Live Law as saying.