In a severe setback to Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal, the Supreme Court refused to pass an interim order Monday against the stay of the Delhi High Court on his release on bail.
No interim relief was granted to CM Kejriwal by the vacation bench of Justices Manoj Misra and SVN Bhatti. The Bench then adjourned and stated that they would consider the case again on Wednesday as the Delhi High Court is likely to pass a decision on ED's plea for an interim stay within a day or two.
While the matter was being heard, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, vehemently attacked the Delhi High Court's interim stay order. Singhvi placed trust in the principle of law that the tests for granting of bail and cancellation of bail are drastically different, and therefore in general, bail once granted should not be canceled.
He further said that the interim stay test was issued on the appeal of ED even before the trial order granting bail was uploaded, and as such, the decision of Delhi High Court to stay the release on bail was without any reasons.
Singhvi further mentioned that while reserving its order on Kejriwal's plea challenging the validity of his arrest and remand by ED, the Supreme Court had made an express provision for Kejriwal's liberty to apply for bail in a trial court for alleged offences in the excise policy case.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, for ED, however submitted that the trial court had not even glanced through the documents as it was recorded in the impugned order of bail. "How could an order be passed without going through the paper? It is a perverse order," Mehta said while submitting that the requirement of Section 45 of PMLA for grant of bail was not met.
The Delhi High Court passed an interim order staying the release of the Aam Aadmi Party leader on June 21, based on the ED's appeal against the trial court's order for bail. The vacation bench, comprising Justices Sudhir Kumar Jain and Ravinder Dudeja, directed that execution of the bail order shall remain stayed till the final disposal of the instant matter. Thereafter, the Delhi High Court reserved its order on the ED's plea for interim stay and informed that an order would be passed within two to three days.
The ED had pleaded before the trial court to stay the signing of the bail bond for 48 hours after pronouncement of the order. However, the trial court refused to stay the bail order for the reasons sought by ED.
Read also | CM Kejriwal Appeals to Supreme Court Over Interim Stay on Bail in Liquor Policy Case
