Supreme Court may grant interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal due to election
PTC News Desk: The Supreme Court said on Friday that it may consider granting interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal due to upcoming elections.
As arguments on Kejriwal's plea against arrest by the ED and subsequent remand in the excise policy case may take some time, the Supreme Court may hear arguments on Kejriwal's interim bail as well.
It asked the ED counsel to come prepared on this aspect when it takes up the case on Tuesday.
“We may grant or we may not grant. But we must be open to you as neither side should be taken by surprise," the apex court said. The bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta also alerted both sides to not assume that the court will grant bail.
It asked the probe agency to come up with possible conditions for Kejriwal if interim bail is granted. The top court also directed ED to consider whether Kejriwal should sign any files given his position as chief minister.
"Please also take instructions - we are not saying anything (on whether bail will be granted or not) - we would like to consider grant of interim bail because of elections," the bench said.
"Second ... Because of the position you (Kejriwal) hold, whether you should be signing any files? We are being open, do not assume anything ... Do not read anything into it! We are not saying either way," it added.
Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in a money laundering case related to Delhi excise policy case. So far, all of his bail pleas have been denied, and the BJP has demanded that he resign as chief minister.
- With inputs from agencies
