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Synopsis

The Supreme Court's Registry has refused to entertain an application moved by Arvind Kejriwal seeking an extension of his interim bail granted earlier this month.

While doing so, Registry has held the application to be not maintainable noting that a division bench of the top court had already given Kejriwal the liberty to move trial court for regular bail.

Notably, yesterday a vacation bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and KV Viswanathan had refused to pass any orders on taking up of Arvind Kejriwal's application, alternatively ordering that the Chief Justice of India (CJI) would take a call on listing as the judgment in the case had already been reserved.

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal moved Supreme Court of India seeking an extension of his interim bail granted on May 10 by 7-days. Kejriwal has said that he has to get a PET-CT scan and other tests done.

On May 10, Supreme Court of India had granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal allowing him to campaign for Aam Aadmi Party in the General Elections, 2024.

Recently Enforcement Directorate had informed court that post his release on interim bail, Kejriwal made statements in public which are a "slap on the system".

A division bench hearing Kejriwal's plea against ED arrest was told, "Court said he will not discuss his role in the case. He is saying, "they say I have to go back to jail in 20 days, if you vote for broom then I will not have to go to jail..."."

In a major development, the Enforcement directorate has also informed Supreme Court that personal chats between Arvind Kejriwal and hawala operators have been discovered by them. "We have just arrested the hawala operator..Kejriwal had destroyed many phones, recovery has been made from hawala operators now..", Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had told a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta.

It is ED's case that Kejriwal had demanded 100 crores during Goa elections which was later utilized through hawala transactions.

The interim bail order had said, "He (Kejriwal) will not interact with any of the witnesses and/or have access to any official files connected with the case...".

The granting of interim relief to the Delhi CM saw a lot of resistance from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General SV Raju who were present before court on behalf of the Enforcement Directorate.

Enforcement Directorate had also filed an affidavit arguing that under Prevention of Money Laundering Act alone presently there were many politicians who are in judicial custody, and there was no reason why a special prayer for a special treatment by Kejriwal must be acceded to.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had also argued vehemently against the grant of interim bail to Kejriwal saying an impression was being created that heavens would fall if he is not allowed to campaign.

The case against Kejriwal & allies involves allegations of corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of Delhi's excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped. 

Meanwhile, upon arrest, outside Kejriwal's residence, a crowd gathered, including AAP MLAs and party leaders, protesting the ED's actions. AAP leaders criticized the BJP and ED, alleging political conspiracy and misuse of power to target Kejriwal.

Case Title: ARVIND KEJRIWAL vs. DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT