On July 12, the Supreme Court of India granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi Liquor Policy scam, which is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The court also forwarded Kejriwal’s petition challenging his ED arrest to a larger bench for further examination.
However, Kejriwal will not be released from jail as he is currently in custody in a related case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) concerning the same liquor policy issue.
On the Supreme Court granting interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal, his lawyer Rishikesh Kumar stated, “The Supreme Court has granted him interim bail, and the issue of Section 19 and the necessity of arrest has been referred to a larger bench. CM Kejriwal will remain in custody as his bail in the CBI case is still pending. This is a big victory…”
The Supreme Court bench, comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, referred Kejriwal’s petition to a larger bench to determine whether the necessity of arrest should be a condition under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The apex court had directed the probe agency to provide additional evidence against the Delhi CM in the excise policy case.
