The entire nation eagerly awaits the Supreme Court’s decision on Kejriwal’s appeal against his arrest by the ED for money laundering in connection with the formation of an old scrapped excise policy.
This highly expected verdict is set to be delivered by two bench Justices, Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, on Friday, 12 July 2019. This case had been set for judgment before the above-stated bench on the 17th of May, 2005, after hearing the claimant’s and respondent’s arguments.
Significantly, while ordering the matter to be heard the next day, the SC had clarified that though disposed of as above and in any case and any view of the matter, Kejriwal shall be free to approach the trial court seeking bail without prejudice to the parties’ contentions.
This was prompted by the AAP national convenor, who was allowed by the apex court to be released on interim bail to undertake campaigns during the Lok Sabha polls up to June 1. Kejriwal had surrendered on June 2.
After that, events unfolded, and Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court released him on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh on June 20. However, the ED challenged this order, saying it was negative.
They referred to it as perverse-sided and wrong-sided, and the findings were based on facts that did not matter to the case. The Delhi High Court then passed an interim order of staying the trial court’s bail order of June 21.
In addition to the legal war, the Delhi chief minister was arrested by the CBI on June 26 in an excise policy-related corruption case. Earlier on the same day, the Delhi High Court listed Kejriwal’s petition against the ED summonses for hearing on September 9.
Thus, even as the legal drama plays out, the entire focus is now on the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision, which promises to further influence the ongoing story.
