Supreme Court Grants Interim Bail to Arvind Kejriwal in Excise Policy Case

The Supreme Court has granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case, pending the final judgment on his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Kejriwal, represented by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, was arrested on March 21, 2024, after skipping nine summons from the federal agency. He argued that his arrest, occurring after the March 18 General Election announcement, was politically motivated.

The Delhi High Court had previously upheld his arrest, but Kejriwal appealed to the Supreme Court. On May 10, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, with conditions to surrender by June 2. The court’s final judgment, delivered by a bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, will address the legality of his arrest.

Senior advocate Singhvi contended that the ED’s cited evidence was unavailable during Kejriwal’s arrest. In contrast, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju argued that the ED had evidence of money being funneled to AAP through hawala channels, including chats between Kejriwal and hawala operators.