Supreme Court rejects bail plea of Arvind Kejriwal, next hearing on August 23: SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to grant an interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal while hearing his plea seeking release from jail in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. The top court also issued a notice to the CBI on a petition filed by the CM challenging his arrest and remand by the probe agency in the excise policy case. A bench of justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan made the judgment.

Earlier on August 5, the Delhi High Court ruled that Kejriwal's arrest was neither illegal nor without justifiable grounds because CBI presented “evidently enough evidence” to warrant his detention and remand. It further said that Kejriwal is not an ordinary citizen but a distinguished recipient of the Magsaysay Award and the convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party.

“Also, it establishes that the loop of evidence against the petitioner was closed after the collection of relevant evidence after his arrest. No malice whatsoever can be gathered from the acts of the respondent (CBI)…It is a bounden duty of every court, more so the courts of first instance, to ensure that the extraordinary powers of arrest and remand are not misused or are resorted to by the police in a casual and cavalier manner,” the high court had observed.

Kejriwal, who was arrested by the ED on March 21, was granted bail by the trial court in the money laundering case on June 20. However, the trial court's order was stayed by the high court. On July 12, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in the money laundering case.