Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has got a major relief from the Supreme Court in the liquor scam case. Supreme Court has granted bail to CM Kejriwal after 177 days.A bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice Ujjal Bhuiyan has pronounced this decision. Let it be known that the Supreme Court had already reserved its decision on the bail of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested in the Delhi Liquor Policy scam case. Later, CBI and Kejriwal presented their arguments during the discussion.
Kejriwal remained in jail for 156 days:
ED arrested Kejriwal on March 21. After 190 days of interrogation, he was sent to Tihar Jail on April 1. 10 May was released for election campaign for 21 days. The release came after 51 days in jail. The Supreme Court granted Kejriwal’s release till June 1, after which Kejriwal surrendered in Tihar Jail on June 2. Kejriwal has been released today on September 13, so Arvind Kejriwal has spent a total of 177 days in jail, if we exclude 21 days of release, Kejriwal has spent a total of 156 days in jail. It is to be noted that the former Deputy CM of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, was relieved by the Supreme Court on August 9. After 17 months, Sisodia was released from jail on bail. Supreme Court granted bail due to delay in commencement of trial in alleged liquor policy scam case.
Haryana angle on Kejriwal’s bail:
Assembly elections are scheduled for October 5 in the neighboring state of Haryana. Aam Aadmi Party is contesting all the seats in Haryana. It could not form an alliance with the Congress. If Kejriwal gets bail now he will start Haryana election campaign. Aam Aadmi Party can benefit from this. According to a political insider, Kejriwal’s bail will reduce BJP’s losses and gain more. The exit of Arvind Kejriwal may hurt the Congress, as the votes against the BJP will be divided between the Congress and the AAP. In such a case, the influence of Kejriwal’s bail can be seen in Haryana.
What reasons did CBI give for opposing bail? :
The CBI is afraid that after Kejriwal gets bail, many witnesses will recant their statements, so the Supreme Court was urged not to grant bail. ASG Raju said, ‘Many candidates who contested from the Aam Aadmi Party in the Goa assembly elections came forward to give their statement before the central agency only after Kejriwal’s arrest. If you release Kejriwal on bail, that witness will go back on his statement. Kejriwal’s bail application should be referred back to the trial court and he should not file a bail application in the Delhi High Court in the first instance. Arrest is a part of investigation and ordinarily any investigating officer does not require the permission of court for arrest, but in the present case the court ordered the arrest. When an arrest is made pursuant to a court order, the accused cannot plead violation of fundamental rights.
