'Will you arrest him again': Delhi HC questions ED on plea to cancel Arvind Kejriwal’s bail in excise policy case

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday questioned the ED as to what remained in its challenge seeking cancellation of bail granted to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal when he had already been granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in the excise policy-linked money laundering case.

The high court said it was only an academic issue now and asked if the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) petition is allowed, will the agency again arrest the chief minister? "Answer my question. What will happen if I allow your petition? Will you arrest him again?" Justice Neena Bansal Krishna asked the ED's counsel.

To this, the counsel said there was no question of arrest and no one has declared his arrest to be illegal.

The judge also said the applications filed in the case were drafted in a way that she got confused.

"Is it for bail, illegal custody or compensation? I am confused," she said.

On July 12, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Kejriwal in the money laundering case and referred to a larger bench for in-depth consideration of three questions on the aspect of "need and necessity of arrest" under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

But he remains in jail as he is in judicial custody in the Central Bureau of Investigation's corruption case stemming out of the excise scam.

At the outset, ED's counsel urged the court to grant an adjournment and hear the matter on Thursday as the additional solicitor general who has to argue the case was busy in another court.

The judge said it was not possible to list the matter for Thursday and remarked that the ED was not interested in the case anymore.

"Last time also an adjournment was sought. You can't be requesting the court all the time as if this court has no work. You have to adjust your diary accordingly. Don't think that courts at the drop of a hat will give you a date," the judge said.

The ED counsel clarified that last time a date was sought by the counsel for the AAP and not by the probe agency and urged the court to give a short date for arguing the matter.

The matter has now been listed for hearing on September 5.

On June 20, Kejriwal was granted bail by a trial court here on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh.

The ED moved the high court the next day and contended that the trial court's order was "perverse", "one-sided" and "wrong-sided" and that the findings were based on irrelevant facts.

The high court, on June 21, imposed an interim stay on the trial court's bail order till the passing of an order on the ED's application for interim relief. It had issued a notice and asked Kejriwal to file a reply to the ED's petition.

On June 25, the high court passed a detailed order staying the trial court order.

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED and the CBI on March 21 and June 26 in the money laundering and corruption cases.

The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi Lieutenant Governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution.

According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to licence holders.