During the hearing of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea against the interim stay on his bail, a vacation bench of the Supreme Court on Monday noted that stay orders are typically not reserved and announced on the same day.
The bench, consisting of Justices Manoj Misra and SVN Bhatti, expressed a desire to await the pronouncement of the high court’s order on the matter. Justice Misra remarked, “It’s unusual.”
Arvind Kejriwal approached the Supreme Court on Sunday after the high court halted his release until it delivered its judgment on the Enforcement Directorate’s plea.
The Supreme Court informed Kejriwal’s lawyer, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, that issuing any order at this stage would be preempting the issue. “We will be pre-judging the issue if we pass any order at this stage. It is not some other court but the high court,” the bench told Singhvi. The hearing was deferred until June 26.
Singhvi requested the interim stay on the bail order to be lifted. He argued that Kejriwal should be released until the Delhi high court pronounced its order, emphasizing that the Delhi Chief Minister posed no flight risk.
“I know what I am asking. This court must stay the high court order before it is being pronounced just like the high court had stayed the bail order on mere mention by the Enforcement Directorate,” Singhvi asserted.
Assistant Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the ED, stated that the high court would soon deliver its verdict on the agency’s stay application. Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.
While Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court granted him regular bail last week, the Enforcement Directorate moved the high court the following day, seeking a stay on the implementation of the trial court’s order. In the high court, the ED’s lawyer criticized the trial court’s order, calling it perverse, lopsided, and one-sided.
