Arrest is legal, bail is also on conditions… Even after coming out, Kejriwal’s difficulties in running the government are not less

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has got bail from the Supreme Court in the CBI case after the ED. He can come out of Tihar Jail by this evening. However, the court has declared the CBI arrest legal and fixed the conditions of bail. The court has imposed the same conditions for bail as were imposed while granting bail in the ED case. Kejriwal will have to follow those conditions after coming out. It is believed that Kejriwal’s difficulties have not reduced due to the conditions of release. He may have to face difficulties in running the government. At present, from party leaders to workers, everyone is happy with Kejriwal’s release. Celebrations are being held from the CM residence to the party office. Know the meaning of Kejriwal’s release in seven points.

In fact, Kejriwal is also trapped in the money laundering case related to the alleged liquor scam in Delhi. ED sent 9 summons to Kejriwal from November 2023 to March 2024. But he did not participate in the interrogation. After that, ED arrested Kejriwal on 21 March. After 10 days of interrogation, Kejriwal was sent to Tihar Jail on 1 April. Meanwhile, CBI arrested Kejriwal on 26 June. Later on 12 July, Kejriwal got bail in the ED case, but could not be released from jail due to CBI arrest. Aam Aadmi Party is continuously claiming that BJP has implicated Kejriwal as part of a political conspiracy. At the same time, BJP is saying that if you sow acacia tree, how will you get mangoes from it.

1. Why is Kejriwal still facing difficulties?

On Friday, Supreme Court Justice Suryakant gave the decision to grant regular bail to Kejriwal. Justice Ujjwal Bhuiyan agreed with his decision. The court has granted bail to Kejriwal on a bond of Rs 10 lakh. The bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice Ujjwal Bhuiyan said that CBI’s arrest was under the rules. Justice Suryakant said that if a person is already in custody and it is not wrong to arrest him again in connection with the investigation. The court said, CBI has not violated any rules. They needed investigation, so he was arrested in this case. Earlier, Kejriwal’s lawyer had questioned the arrest and called it illegal. This decision of the court is being considered a setback for Kejriwal. Kejriwal will still be a part of the trial and will remain within the legal framework.

2. Will Kejriwal be limited to election campaign only?
For now, the way for Kejriwal to come out of jail has been cleared. But, the conditions of bail will come in the way of Kejriwal’s work and will create difficulties in running the government. Actually, according to the conditions of bail, Kejriwal can neither take any policy decisions nor sign any government file. He can be limited only to election campaign. No decision related to the government is allowed. In such a situation, the hopes that Kejriwal can take rapid decisions as Chief Minister as soon as he comes out, do not seem to be coming true. Especially the scheme of Rs 1000 per month for women has not been implemented till now. All such plans may prove to be a distant dream to be implemented before the Delhi elections.

3. So will Kejriwal remain the Chief Minister?

However, it is certain that Kejriwal will remain the Chief Minister. He will not leave his post. Because, even after spending a long time in jail, he has not left the post, so now the chances of him leaving the responsibility are also less.

4. Will the BJP’s campaign lose steam?

Apart from this, there were rumours of President’s rule in Delhi. It was being argued that due to the Chief Minister being in jail, work in Delhi has come to a standstill. Recently, BJP MLAs had submitted their demand letter to the President and demanded the imposition of President’s rule in Delhi. The President has sent this demand letter to the Union Home Secretary for consideration. But after Kejriwal’s release, this campaign of BJP may lose steam.

5. Is there any relief from Kejriwal’s release?

Kejriwal is considered an expert in understanding the pulse of the people of Delhi. Kejriwal’s release just 4 months before the assembly elections is going to bring the most stir in Delhi politics. The opposition has also believed that Kejriwal’s exit doubles the strength of the Aam Aadmi Party at least in Delhi.

6. Will Kejriwal save the organization from disintegration?

Kejriwal’s exit is definitely good news for the organization. The party was facing a crisis of faces for the last 6 months. From Sunita Kejriwal to Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, everyone was taking decisions related to the organization. Earlier, Atishi, Saurabh Bhardwaj and MP Sandeep Pathak were brought forward. The party has suffered major setbacks in the last few days. Big leaders like former minister Rajkumar Anand and Rajendra Pal Gautam have left the party. Rajkumar has been an MLA from Patel Nagar and he has gone to BJP. Gautam has joined Congress. He has been an MLA from Seemapuri and was a minister in the Kejriwal government. Apart from this, many councilors have also left AAP.

7. Roles of Sisodia and senior leaders will be decided

At one time, the top leadership of Aam Aadmi Party was almost completely in jail in the excise policy case, but the relief that started after Manish Sisodia’s bail is going to be completed with Kejriwal coming out of jail. After achieving the status of a national party in the Gujarat assembly elections, there was a challenge of expanding the organization, but shock after shock had put a brake on this ambitious plan. Now, after Kejriwal comes out, many important leaders can be given new responsibilities within the organization so that the party’s vehicle can come back on track. Manish Sisodia is doing a padayatra all over Delhi after coming out of jail, but he has not been given any such formal responsibility yet. Kejriwal will now be able to decide in which role Sisodia and other senior leaders will fit better.

What did the Supreme Court say in the Kejriwal case?

Justice Suryakant said that on the basis of arguments, we have prepared 3 questions. Was the arrest illegal? Should the appellant be given regular bail? Is filing a chargesheet such a change in circumstances that it can be sent to the trial court? The Supreme Court said, there is nothing wrong in arresting a person taken into custody. We have found that the CBI has stated the reasons in its application why it felt it necessary. There has been no violation of Section 41A (iii). We do not find any merit in the argument that the CBI did not comply with Section 41A CrPC.

That is, Kejriwal may have got bail from the Supreme Court, but his arrest was not wrong and the investigating agency did not let Kejriwal’s troubles reduce by proving this in the court. This is the reason why the court has kept the bail conditions strict in the decision. The Supreme Court said, the appellant (Kejriwal) will not make any public comment regarding this case. That is, Kejriwal will have to refrain from making statements. Otherwise, it will be considered a violation of the conditions of the court. The court also made it clear that the conditions imposed in the ED case will be applicable in this case as well. He will fully cooperate with the trial court.

On what basis did Kejriwal get bail?

The Supreme Court said that we have considered the bail. The issue is of freedom. We feel that the result of this case is not likely to come out soon. The apprehensions of the prosecution regarding tampering with evidence and witnesses were considered. They are rejected. We have concluded that the appellant should be granted bail.

At the same time, Justice Bhuiyan said that the CBI should remove the notion that it is a caged parrot, it should show that it is not a caged parrot. The CBI cannot justify the arrest and keep Kejriwal in custody by citing his non-cooperation in the investigation. When bail has been granted in the ED case, keeping him in custody would not be right from the point of view of justice.

Differences between the two judges on the legality of arrest

However, both the judges of the Supreme Court expressed differences on the legality of Kejriwal’s arrest by the CBI. Justice Suryakant said, long-term imprisonment is equal to injustice from freedom. But he said that Kejriwal’s arrest was legal and there was no procedural irregularity in it. However, Justice Ujjal Bhuiyan had a different opinion. He said the arrest made by the CBI was ‘unfair’. Justice Bhuiyan said that arresting despite getting bail in the ED case raises questions. It seems like an attempt to obstruct his release from jail. The haste of the CBI at the time of release in the ED case is beyond comprehension, whereas it did not take any such step for 22 months.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had reserved the decision on Kejriwal’s petitions on September 5. The CBI had arrested Kejriwal in this case on June 26, at that time Kejriwal was lodged in Tihar Jail. Earlier, the ED had arrested Kejriwal on March 21 in the money laundering case. In the same liquor scam case, two big leaders of Aam Aadmi Party Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh were also lodged in Tihar Jail for a long time. Currently, both the leaders are out on bail.

Kejriwal has argued in the court that no concrete evidence has been found against him. He was arrested only by relying on government witnesses. While the investigation agencies are saying that Kejriwal is the main conspirator in the liquor scam case, so his bail may affect the investigation. The Supreme Court has also reiterated in many previous cases that bail is the rule and custody is the exception. The ED accuses Kejriwal that he was also involved in drafting the liquor policy which benefited the liquor companies and some people and led to the scam. According to the ED, Kejriwal is accused of money laundering in two ways. Also, the ED believes that Kejriwal had also demanded 100 crores. At the same time, the Aam Aadmi Party is also accused of campaigning in the Goa assembly elections with a bribe of Rs 45 crores.