The Delhi High Court will pronounce its verdict today on a plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking a stay on the trial court’s order granting bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering case stemming from the alleged excise scam. The order is scheduled to be pronounced at 2:30 pm.
A vacation bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain had reserved the order on June 21 after the ED challenged the trial court’s decision and put it in abeyance until the pronouncement. Kejriwal, who was arrested on March 21 by the ED, could have been released from Tihar jail if the High Court had not granted interim relief to the ED.
The trial court granted bail to Kejriwal on June 20, ordering his release on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and imposing conditions, including that he will not hamper the investigation or influence witnesses. However, the ED argued that the trial court order was based on “perverse” findings and did not consider material demonstrating Kejriwal’s involvement in the offence.
In its written note, the ED contended that the order suffers from a “jurisdictional defect” as it was not given a proper opportunity to argue its case. It also said the trial judge did not record satisfaction that “there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty” as per section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
On June 21, the high court put an interim stay on the trial court order as it reserved its verdict on the ED’s plea. The ED claimed that the bail order failed to consider evidence demonstrating Kejriwal’s involvement in money laundering and his role as the national convenor of AAP, which allegedly benefitted from the proceeds of the crime.
The ED also stated that the trial court did not properly consider its arguments and that the bail order was uploaded late, curtailing its legal remedies. It argued that the trial court could not deviate from the high court’s findings in another case involving an AAP leader.
The Supreme Court on Monday termed as “unusual” the High Court’s decision to reserve the order while granting an interim stay on the trial court’s bail order. A vacation bench of Justices Manoj Misra and SVN Bhatti noted that normally, stay applications are decided on the spot, and fixed June 26 for hearing Kejriwal’s plea against the interim stay.
During the Supreme Court hearing, Kejriwal’s counsel argued against the High Court’s procedure and contended that Kejriwal was not a flight risk and would return to jail if the order was reversed. The bench decided to wait for the high court’s order before making any decision.
The high court had on Friday paused Kejriwal’s release after the trial court granted him bail on June 20. It also issued a notice to Kejriwal seeking his response to the ED’s plea challenging the trial court’s order and listed it for hearing on July 10. The trial court had held that Kejriwal’s guilt was yet to be established and the ED had failed to furnish direct evidence linking him to the proceeds of crime.
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