Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal gets interim bail from SC but will stay in jail

Supreme Court grants interim bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in money laundering case, pending further investigation and larger bench review

Can't tell elected rep to quit as condition to grant bail: SC

NEW DELHI: In a big relief to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal , Supreme Court Friday granted him interim bail in a money laundering case related to change in Delhi's excise policy. He will not be able to come out of jail immediately as he has also been arrested by CBI in the corruption case related to the alleged scam.However, that does not detract fully from the respite he has got from the apex court.For, unlike ED's case against him under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the threshold for bail in the case under Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) which CBI is pursuing against him is significantly lower.While giving Kejriwal relief, the SC bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said ED's power to arrest under Section 19 of PMLA needed to be examined by a larger bench."Given the fact that right to life and liberty is sacrosanct, and Arvind Kejriwal has suffered incarceration of over 90 days, and that the questions referred to above requires in-depth consideration by a larger bench, we direct that Arvind Kejriwal may be released on interim bail," it said.The bench set the same conditions that were imposed when the court had granted him interim bail in May until June 1 for campaigning in elections - barring him from visiting CM's office andDelhi secretariat so that the probe in the case did not get influenced. It barred him from signing official files unless necessary for obtaining clearance and nod of LG. The court prohibited him from interacting with any witness or accessing official files related to the case. Besides, the court gagged him from commenting on his role in the alleged liquor scam . He was directed to furnish bail bond of Rs 50,000 with one surety of like amount.The bench, which had earlier too raised the question whether it would be proper for Kejriwal to continue as CM after coming out on bail as it may hamper the probe, said the court could not pass a direction against an elected representative to step down as a condition to grant bail and left it to the CM to decide whether or not to continue in the post. As senior advocate A M Singhvi raised the legal issue that arrest should be done in a money laundering case only when there was "need and necessity" and ED must mention the ground of need while arresting, the bench said the issue should be adjudicated by a larger bench and referred it to a constitution bench. The court also said the larger bench may extend the interim bail given to Kejriwal or recall it. ED had contended that the test of necessity to arrest was satisfied in view of Kejriwal failing to appear despite the issuance of nine summons to him but the CM said there was no necessity to arrest him on March 21 when the case was registered in Aug 2022 and most of the material relied upon by the agency was prior to July 2023."We deem it appropriate to refer the following questions of law for consideration by a larger bench: (a) whether the 'need and necessity to arrest' is a separate ground to challenge the order of arrest passed in terms of Section 19(1) of the PML Act? (b) whether the "need and necessity to arrest" refers to the satisfaction of formal parameters to arrest and take a person into custody, or it relates to other personal grounds and reasons regarding necessity to arrest a person in the facts and circumstances of the said case? (c) if questions (a) and (b) are answered in the affirmative, what are the parameters and facts that are to be taken into consideration by the court while examining the question of 'need and necessity to arrest'?" the bench said.