The Supreme Court on Friday, July 12, granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal in the alleged money laundering case linked to Delhi excise policy while referring his petition challenging the arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to a larger bench.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta referred Kejriwal's petition to a larger bench to examine whether the need or necessity of arrest must be read as a condition in Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Justice Khanna held that the arrest meets the parameters of "reasons to believe" under S.19 of the PMLA. However, considering his incarceration so far, the bench chose to grant him interim bail. The bench clarified that the question of interim bail can be modified by the larger bench.
However, Kejriwal will remain in custody since he was arrested by the CBI under the Prevention of Corruption Act in relation to the same liquor policy case on June 25.
CM Kejriwal's lawyer Rishikesh Kumar said, "The Supreme Court has granted him interim bail and the issue of section 19 and necessity of arrest has been referred to a larger bench. CM Kejriwal will remain in custody as his bail in the CBI case is still pending. This is a big victory..."
"The Court observed that insofar as his arrest is concerned, there are certain aspects on the necessity of arrest... They said Mr Kejriwal has undergone a large period of incarceration already and, therefore, directed his release and bail immediately in the ED matter," said Lawyer Shadan Farasat.