On Tuesday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal opposed the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) plea against his bail before the Delhi High Court, arguing that discretionary bail orders should not be overturned based solely on the prosecution’s perceptions and unfounded speculations.
Kejriwal, the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), is currently in jail over alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy for 2021-22.
On June 20, a Delhi court granted him bail due to a lack of direct evidence, but this decision was suspended by the high court less than 24 hours later, on June 21. Subsequently, on June 25, a vacation bench led by Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain stayed the bail order, deeming it perverse and criticizing it for not adequately considering the material submitted by the ED.
In a 91-page reply submitted ahead of the high court hearing on the ED’s plea, Kejriwal questioned the federal probe agency’s grounds for their plea and argued that the high court mistakenly equated the bail order with a verdict of guilt or acquittal, which requires detailed findings based on a thorough evaluation of the evidence.
Kejriwal emphasized that the court had carefully considered the ED’s arguments before granting him bail, and the agency could not rightfully criticize the decision.
“The interim order to cancel bail is unprecedented in law and contradicts the principles of bail. The Learned Court has addressed every contention raised by the ED clearly and thoroughly,” the reply stated.
Kejriwal, represented by advocates Vivek Jain and Mohd Irshad, urged the court to reject the ED’s claim of not being heard adequately. He argued that the city court’s request for the federal agency’s counsel to be concise did not equate to denying them a fair hearing. “The ED’s submissions are legally untenable and reflect their insensitivity and overbearing attitude towards the judicial process,” the reply concluded.
