Excise case: Supreme Court allows Kejriwal to withdraw plea against Delhi HC's interim order of stay on bail

On June 25, by a detailed order, the Delhi High Court had allowed the Enforcement Directorate's plea for stay of the bail order granted in favour of Kejriwal, saying the vacation Judge did not appropriately consider the materials on record in the liquor policy scam case.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to withdraw his plea challenging the June 21 interim order by the Delhi High Court which stayed the bail granted to him by the district court in a money laundering case in the liquor policy scam case.

A bench of Justices Manoj Misra and S V N Bhatti, however, granted liberty to him to file a fresh petition challenging the June 25 order by the High Court suspending the operation of the bail order.

Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal sought to withdraw the instant matter to file a fresh plea to challenge the order of June 25. He said the HC's judgment has come which has all kinds of issues. He also pointed out Kejriwal was re-arrested by the CBI.

Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the ED, submitted that he has no objection.

In an another development, Kejriwal was arrested by the CBI in the case.

On June 25, by a detailed order, the Delhi High Court had allowed the Enforcement Directorate's plea for a stay of the bail order granted in favour of Kejriwal, saying the vacation Judge did not appropriately consider the materials on record in the liquor policy scam case.

On June 24, the Supreme Court had declined to grant any relief to Kejriwal on his plea questioning the June 21 order of stay passed by the Delhi High Court on his bail.

The court, however, said the High Court's order was a bit unusual as normally the stay order is passed on the date of hearing. The court, however, added it would not be appropriate to prejudge the matter at this stage.

The court fixed the matter for consideration on Wednesday, June 26 after noting a submission by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju appearing for the Enforcement Directorate that the High Court may deliver its order on Tuesday.

"Let the HC order come on record. Let us have it a day after tomorrow. We are not expressing anything on merit," the bench said.

On June 20, in a relief to Kejriwal, Rouse Avenue Court's Vacation Judge Niyay Bindu passed the order granting him bail in the Delhi liquor scam case.

However, on June 21, the ED rushed to the High Court as the district court's judge had rejected a request for stay for 48 hours to file an appeal.

Kejriwal was earlier granted interim bail by the Supreme Court on May 10 for campaign during the Lok Sabha polls. He had surrendered on June 2 as per the apex court's order. The apex court however had then said he can approach the trial court for bail.

He was initially arrested by the Enforcement Directorate following a raid at his residence on March 21 in the ECIR lodged on August 22, 2022.