Disagreement among judges on the issue of legality of CM Kejriwal’s arrest! Know on which conditions he got bail

New Delhi. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was in jail for the last 156 days, has finally got bail from the Supreme Court. Kejriwal’s release from jail before the Haryana elections can prove to be politically beneficial for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). However, the Supreme Court has granted conditional bail to CM Kejriwal. There was also disagreement between the two judges on the legality of CM Kejriwal’s arrest.

Disagreement between judges on the issue of legality of arrest!

While reading his verdict, Justice Suryakant said, ‘We have decided 3 questions. Was there any illegality in the arrest, should the appellant be granted regular bail, is filing a charge sheet such a change in circumstances that it can be sent to the trial court. After this, he gave a shock to Kejriwal in the first verdict and said, ‘We do not agree with the appellant’s arguments that the CBI failed to follow Section 41. That is, he called Kejriwal’s arrest legal.’ At the same time, Justice Bhuinya, while giving the verdict, called the CBI’s arrest illegal. He said, ‘Further detention by CBI under the same crime has become unbearable. Bail is the rule and jail is the exception. Courts should ensure that the pre-trial process does not become punishment. CBI arrest is unfair, so the appellant should be released immediately.’

The decision has been given by a bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice Ujjal Bhuiyan. Let us tell you that the Supreme Court had already reserved the decision on the bail plea of ​​​​Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in the Delhi Liquor Policy Scam case. Then during the debate, CBI and Kejriwal had put forth their arguments.

However, while granting bail, the Supreme Court has also imposed some conditions. The same conditions will be applicable to him for bail, which were imposed while granting bail in the ED case. After coming out of jail, Kejriwal will not be able to sign any file. Along with this, there will be a ban on going to his office. Not only this, he will not be able to make any statement or comment in this case.

What will be the conditions for bail

– Arvind Kejriwal will not be able to go to neither the Chief Minister’s Office nor the Secretariat.

– Will not sign any government file unless it is necessary to do so.
– Will not make any public statement or comment regarding his trial.
– Will not talk to any witness in any way.
– Will not have access to any official file related to this case.
– Will appear in the trial court if required and cooperate in the investigation.

Arrest was made on 21 March

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on 21 March in the alleged liquor scam. Due to the Lok Sabha elections, he was granted bail by the Supreme Court on 10 May. After this, Kejriwal surrendered on 2 June. Both ED and CBI are investigating this case. Kejriwal got bail from the Supreme Court on 12 July in the ED case. Now he has got bail in the CBI case as well.

When will Kejriwal come out?

The Supreme Court is currently in Tihar Jail. After getting bail from the Supreme Court, he will have to wait a little to come out of jail.

Actually, the written order of the Supreme Court will be sent to the Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi. Here the bail bond will have to be filled. After this, the Rouse Avenue Court will prepare the release order and send it to the Tihar administration. Kejriwal will be able to come out of jail only after getting the release order.

Also read: Kejriwal Bail Verdict: Know the complete chronology of the investigation in the liquor scam, who is out of jail, who is in?

Bail to all four big leaders

– Arvind Kejriwal: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in the alleged liquor scam. After this, he was also arrested by the CBI. The investigating agency had described Kejriwal as the mastermind of the liquor scam in the Supreme Court. He got bail on September 13.

– Manish Sisodia: Sisodia was arrested on 26 February 2023. When the new liquor policy was implemented in Delhi, the Excise Department was with Sisodia. Sisodia was accused of taking arbitrary and unilateral decisions while being the Excise Minister. Sisodia got bail on 9 August.

– K. Kavitha: BRS leader K. Kavitha was arrested on March 15. The ED claims that Vijay Nair and others were given a bribe of Rs 100 crore by the ‘South Group’ for the leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party. Kavitha was part of this South Group. The Supreme Court granted her bail on August 27.

– Sanjay Singh: Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh was arrested by the ED on October 4 last year. Sanjay Singh was accused of taking a bribe of Rs 2 crore from the accused of Aam Aadmi Party. Sanjay Singh got bail from the Supreme Court on April 2 this year.

What is the alleged liquor scam of Delhi?

On 17 November 2021, the Kejriwal government of Delhi implemented the Excise Policy 2021-22. Under the new policy, the government came out of the liquor business and the entire shops went into private hands.

The Delhi government claimed that the new liquor policy would end the mafia rule and increase the government’s revenue. However, this policy was in controversy from the beginning and when the uproar increased, the government canceled it on 28 July 2022.

The alleged liquor scam was revealed on 8 July 2022 by the report of the then Chief Secretary of Delhi, Naresh Kumar.

In this report, he made serious allegations against many big leaders of Aam Aadmi Party including Manish Sisodia. Delhi LG VK Saxena recommended a CBI inquiry. After this, the CBI registered a case on 17 August 2022. There was also an allegation of misappropriation of money, so the ED also registered a case to investigate money laundering.

In his report, the Chief Secretary had accused Manish Sisodia of preparing the liquor policy in a wrong manner. Manish Sisodia also had the Excise Department. It was alleged that through the new policy, licensed liquor traders were given unfair benefits.

The report alleged that under the pretext of Covid, license fees of Rs 144.36 crore were arbitrarily waived off. 30 crores were also returned to the licensees of the Airport Zone, while this amount was to be seized.

Kejriwal remained in jail for 156 days

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on 21 March. After 10 days of interrogation, he was sent to Tihar Jail on 1 April. He was released on 10 May for 21 days to campaign in the general elections. This release was given after being in jail for 51 days. The Supreme Court had approved Kejriwal’s release till June 1. On June 2, Kejriwal surrendered in Tihar Jail. If Kejriwal is released today, i.e. on 13th September, then the total time he has spent in jail will be 177 days. If the 21 days of release are deducted, then Kejriwal has spent a total of 156 days in jail.