The apex court refused Kejriwal’s request, made through senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, of granting him interim bail June 5. Further, the Delhi Chief Minister has been asked to surrender on June 2.
Lok Sabha elections are currently underway and will be completed in seven phases. June 1 would be the last day of voting.
Bail to Kejriwal
The ED opposed SC’s grant of an interim bail to Kejriwal on the grounds of electioneering, and said that no such precedents were available. However, SC said that granting a bail for 21 days would not make much of a difference.
An SC bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta noted that Kejriwal was an elected official and that the current circumstances were extraordinary in the light of the ongoing general polls. The court said that if had there been no elections, then it would not have given any interim relief, adding, “We do not want interference at all in the working of the government.”
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Kejriwal in Tihar
Kejriwal is currently lodged in the Tihar jail, having been arrested by the ED on March 21. The ED has consistently opposed granting Kejriwal bail in this case, on the fact that he should not be given any special treatment purely because he is a CM.
“How can a Chief Minister be treated differently from an aam aadmi? There can’t be any deviation only because he is a chief minister. Would campaigning for elections be more important?” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, also representing ED, told the bench at a previous hearing.
ED on Thursday filed an affidavit with the SC opposing Kejriwal’s arrest. “Right to campaign for an election is neither a fundamental right nor a constitutional right and not even a legal right,” ED said.
A politician can claim no special status higher than that of an ordinary citizen and is as much liable to be arrested and detained for committing offences as any other citizen, the ED said in its affidavit.
Delhi High Court on April 9 rejected Kejriwal’s plea for release from jail, dismissing his claims of political vendetta during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Further, the HC said that Kejriwal’s failure to attend nine ED summons over six months, despite holding the position of Chief Minister, indicated his arrest was a natural outcome of his lack of cooperation.
