Delhi High Court stays Arvind Kejriwal’s bail order in excise policy case

New Delhi, June 25:  The Delhi High Court on Tuesday stayed the trial court order that granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the ongoing Delhi excise policy case, which is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) reports Bar & Bench.

Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain, who presided over the case, criticized the trial court for not thoroughly considering the evidence presented by the ED and for not providing the ED sufficient opportunity to present its arguments. The stay was issued following an ED plea to halt the trial court’s June 20 decision to grant bail to Kejriwal.

“The Vacation Judge, while passing the Impugned Order, did not appropriately appreciate the material/documents submitted on record and the pleas taken by ED. The averments/grounds raised in the petition under Section 439(2) of the Code require serious consideration.

Accordingly, the present application is allowed, and the operation of the Impugned Order is stayed,” stated the Court.

Justice Jain further pointed out that the trial court’s claim that voluminous material couldn’t be considered was unjustified, indicating a lack of thoroughness in the trial court’s review of the ED’s evidence. Additionally, the High Court noted that the trial court failed to adequately address the twin conditions for bail under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

“There was a strong argument that the twin condition of Section 45 PMLA was not deliberated by the vacation judge. This court is of the opinion that Section 45 PMLA has not been properly discussed by the trial court,” the High Court stated.

Furthermore, the High Court dismissed the trial court’s assertion that the ED acted with malice, referencing a previous High Court ruling that rejected similar claims by Kejriwal. “Most importantly, the ASG referred to para 27 of the trial court order where the judge talks about mala fide by the ED. But this court is of the opinion that a coordinate bench of this court has said there was no mala fide on the part of the ED. The trial court should not have given any finding which is opposite to the finding of the High Court,” emphasized Justice Jain.

The trial court had granted Kejriwal bail on June 20, conditional upon a bail bond of ₹1 lakh. Special Judge Niyay Bindu of the Rouse Avenue Court had concluded that the ED failed to provide direct evidence linking Kejriwal to the crime’s proceeds and had not demonstrated that another accused, Vijay Nair, acted on Kejriwal’s behalf. The judge also noted that the ED appeared biased against Kejriwal.

Following this decision, the ED promptly sought an urgent hearing at the Delhi High Court. Justice Jain initially ordered an interim stay on June 21, pending a final decision, which was issued today.

Kejriwal challenged the interim stay before the Supreme Court, which described the stay as “unusual” but decided to await the High Court’s final order, scheduling the hearing for June 26.

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21, accused of being part of a conspiracy to exploit loopholes in the now-revoked Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22 to benefit certain liquor vendors. The ED alleges that kickbacks from these vendors funded the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) electoral campaign in Goa, holding Kejriwal, the party’s National Convenor, personally and vicariously responsible for money laundering.

Kejriwal has denied these allegations, accusing the ED of extortion. Other AAP leaders, including former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and MP Sanjay Singh, were also arrested in the case. While Singh is currently out on bail, Sisodia remains in jail.