Excise case: Why no bail plea in trial court, SC asks Delhi CM Kejriwal

The Supreme Court on Monday asked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been arrested in a money-laundering case stemming from the alleged excise policy scam, why has he not filed a bail application before the trial court.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta was hearing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader's plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

"You did not move any application for bail before the trial court?" the bench asked senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, who appeared in the court on behalf of Kejriwal.

"No", Singhvi replied.

"Why did you not file any application for bail?" the bench asked.

The lawyer said there are several reasons, including that Kejriwal's arrest was "illegal".

The hearing in the matter is underway.
 

The ED arrested Kejriwal on March 21, after the Delhi High Court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the federal anti-money laundering agency. The chief minister is currently lodged in the Tihar jail here under judicial custody.

The top court issued a notice to the ED on April 15 and sought its response to Kejriwal's plea.

The high court had, on April 9, upheld Kejriwal's arrest in the money-laundering case, saying there was no illegality about it and that the ED was left with "little option" after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation.

The matter pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.