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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. (Photo: PTI File)
The court asked the Education Executive what is left for the challenge seeking cancellation of Kejriwal's bail when he has been granted interim bail by the Supreme Court?
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Education Ministry seeking to quash Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's bail challenge what is left of it now that the Supreme Court has cleared it in a money laundering case related to the GST policy granted him temporary bail.
The High Court said it was just an academic matter now and asked if the Enforcement Directorate's petition is allowed, will the agency arrest the chief minister again? “Answer my question. What will happen if I allow your petition? Will you arrest him again?” Justice Neena Bansal Krishna asked the ED counsel.
In this regard, the lawyer stated that there was no issue of arrest and no one declared that his arrest was illegal.
The judge also said the application filed in the case was so beautifully drafted that she was confused.
“Is it bail pending trial, illegal detention or compensation? I'm confused,” she said.
On July 12, the Supreme Court granted Kejriwal temporary bail in the money laundering case and asked the larger bench to consider in depth three issues regarding the “necessity and necessity of arrest” in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
But he remains behind bars as he is in judicial custody in a Central Bureau of Investigation corruption case stemming from the excise tax scam.
Initially, the ED's lawyers urged the court to grant an adjournment and hear the case on Thursday because the other deputy attorney general handling the case was busy in another court.
The judge said it was not possible to list the matter on Thursday and said the ED was no longer interested in the case.
“Adjournment was sought last time too. You cannot keep approaching the court as if this court is not working. You have to adjust your diary accordingly. Don't think that the court will give you a date easily,” the judge said.
The ED counsel clarified that it was AAP's counsel and not the investigating agency who had sought a date last time and urged the court to give a brief date to argue the matter.
The case is now scheduled for a September 5 hearing.
On June 20, Kejriwal was granted bail by the trial court here on a personal surety of Rs 1 lakh.
The ED filed a motion in the High Court the next day, arguing that the trial court's order was “unjustified,” “one-sided” and “erroneous” and that the findings were based on irrelevant facts.
The High Court on June 21 temporarily stayed the bail order of the trial court until the ED passes an order on the interim relief application. It has issued a notice and asked Kejriwal to respond to the education ministry's petition.
On June 25, the high court passed a detailed order staying the trial court's order.
Kejriwal was arrested by ED and CBI on March 21 and June 26 in connection with money laundering and corruption cases.
The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi ordered India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate alleged irregularities and corruption in its formulation and implementation.
According to the Confederation of British Industry and the Ministry of Education, there were irregularities in the revision of the excise tax policy and undue concessions were given to license holders.
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(This report has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from United News Agency-PTI)
