Delhi Excise Policy Case: No Official Duties If Released, Supreme Court Tells Arvind Kejriwal

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, May 7, told Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s lawyer, Abhishek Singhvi, that if it gives Kejriwal interim bail, it doesn’t want him to perform official duties as this could lead to conflict. "We do not want interference at all in the workings of the government," said the court.

The Supreme Court further stated that if elections were not held, it would not have granted any interim relief. Arvind Kejriwal told the apex court that if granted interim bail, he would not deal with any excise policy scam-related files.

Breaking: "We make it clear, we don't want you to be performing official duties if we release you" Supreme Court Tells @ArvindKejriwalhttps://t.co/w0FTTb9CYI

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) May 7, 2024

"We make it clear, we don't want you to be performing official duties if we release you," the Supreme Court told Arvind Kejriwal.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta hearing the case by considering the plea of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader. On May 3, the Supreme Court hinted at the possibility of granting interim bail to Mr Kejriwal in light of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. 

Leering that the time-consuming nature of the legal proceedings, the court expressed its willingness to hear arguments from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding interim relief to the AAP chief before elections in Delhi that are scheduled for May 25.

The Supreme Court has said that it will continue hearing the matter after lunch and will pass an order at 2:30 pm on today.