Arvind Kejriwal fails to get immediate relief as Supreme Court defers hearing

Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, May 7

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal failed to get an immediate relief in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam on Tuesday as the Supreme Court deferred the hearing on his interim bail plea.

Not habitual offender

Kejriwal is an elected CM of Delhi. The elections are around the corner. These are extraordinary circumstances. He is not otherwise a habitual offender. Bench

Custody of Delhi CM, Kavitha extended

A court on Tuesday extended judicial custody of Arvind Kejriwal till May 20 and that of BRS leader K Kavitha till May 14 in cases related to the alleged excise scam.

“Tentatively... we will give you a date for day after tomorrow (May 9)…if it’s not possible, we will keep it sometime next week,” a Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta said.

The Bench hinted at granting interim bail to Kejriwal in view of the Lok Sabha elections. “He (Kejriwal) is an elected Chief Minister of Delhi. The elections are around the corner. These are extraordinary circumstances. He is not otherwise a habitual offender...or somebody who has been involved in many other cases,” it said.

The Bench, however, said it didn’t want Kejriwal to discharge his functions as Delhi Chief Minister and sign official files, if released on interim bail to campaign in the elections.

“Suppose we release you, and you are allowed to participate in elections, you will be performing official duties...it can have cascading effects...We make it clear, we don’t want you to be performing official duties if we release you,” Justice Khanna told senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented Kejriwal.

“He will not sign any files, with a condition that the L-G may not stop any work on that ground,” Singhvi responded.

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