Supreme Court : Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested on 21 March 2024, was released exactly 50 days later. On the afternoon of 10 May, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail. The bench of Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice Dipankar Dutta considered it an extraordinary case and gave 5 main grounds for interim bail. Kejriwal’s not resigning from the post of CM has also gone in his favor.
Here we will know whether other leaders like Hemant Soren, K. Kavitha can also be released from jail on the basis of Kejriwal’s interim bail decision?
Table of Contents
There are 5 main grounds for Kejriwal’s interim bail–
1. Charges not framed:Â
The investigation in this case started on 26 November 2022. In this, ED has filed 4 supplementary prosecution complaints so far. CBI has filed 2 supplementary chargesheets in addition to 1 chargesheet. Despite this, charges have not been framed against Arvind Kejriwal yet.
2. Case pending in Supreme Court :
The bench said that it is not possible to argue or pronounce a verdict at this stage of the case. Since Kejriwal’s appeal is pending before the Supreme Court, it would not be right to send Kejriwal to the trial court for interim bail or release.
3. Lok Sabha is an important event:Â
The bench wrote in its judgment that the Lok Sabha elections are the most important event of this year, in which 65-70 crore people will vote. The bench rejected the ED’s argument that granting interim bail to Kejriwal would send a wrong message to the common people that leaders are getting special treatment. The bench said that while granting interim bail or release, the courts always keep in mind the peculiarities related to the person concerned and the current situation.
4. Kejriwal is the CMÂ :
The court said that Arvind Kejriwal is the current Chief Minister of Delhi and the leader of a national party of the country. Of course there are serious allegations against him, but he has never been found guilty. He is not a threat to society.
5. Decision on Kejriwal’s arrest pending:Â
The court said that the investigation of the current case is going on since August 2022. Kejriwal was arrested on 21 March 2024. Most importantly, the legality of Kejriwal’s arrest has been challenged in the court, on which a decision is yet to be taken. Therefore, interim bail was granted.
Copy of the full judgment –Â Decision on Kejriwal’s interim bail
What is the case against former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren?
A case of money laundering has been registered against former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren under the PMLA Act. Actually, there is a place named Bajra in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand. Here the Indian Army owned a plot of about 7.16 acres of land. The local people sold this land to many people through wrong documents. When the matter reached the Ranchi Municipal Corporation, the corporation registered a case against unknown people on charges of illegal purchase and sale.
Based on this case, ED started investigation. On 14 April, ED arrested 7 people for the first time in this case. Apart from Pradeep Bagchi, Afsar Ali, Saddam Hussain, 4 more people were arrested. About 23 days later, Ranchi’s former Deputy Commissioner and suspended IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan was arrested. On the basis of interrogation of Chhavi, a person named Vishnu Agarwal was arrested on 31 July.
Hemant Soren’s name was found in the documents found with him. Investigation revealed information related to Hemant Soren’s bank account and cheques. After this, ED sent summons to Hemant Soren for questioning under section 50 of PMLA Act. Despite being summoned 10 times, Hemant did not appear before ED. After this, he was arrested on 31 January 2024 under section 174 of IPC for not appearing despite being summoned.
Will Hemant Soren get relief on the basis of Kejriwal?
- On May 13, Hemant Soren’s lawyer Kapil Sibal may argue his case in the Supreme Court. It is likely that while hearing this case, Sibal will cite Kejriwal’s bail as an example.
- Experts believe that Soren can also seek relief on the basis of Lok Sabha elections, but other grounds of Kejriwal’s decision do not go in his favour.
What is the case of Kavitha, daughter of former Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao?
In the Delhi liquor scam case, ED arrested businessman Amit Arora from Gurugram on November 30, 2022. According to ED, Amit had taken the name of K. Kavitha in his statement. The investigating agency had claimed that Kavitha had paid Rs 100 crore to the leaders of the AAP government in Delhi through Vijay Nair. AAP used this money in the Goa and Punjab assembly elections.
The CBI on Thursday (April 11) arrested BRS leader K. Kavitha in Tihar in connection with the corruption case related to the Delhi liquor policy case. Kavitha has been lodged in Tihar since March 26. The CBI will produce Kavitha in court on Friday (April 12) to seek her remand.
The CBI has arrested Kavitha under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 477-A (misappropriation of accounts) of the Indian Penal Code and section 7 (offences relating to bribery of public servants) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
K Kavitha was questioned about WhatsApp chats and documents related to a land deal recovered from co-accused Buchi Babu’s phone. It is alleged that Rs 100 crore was paid to the Aam Aadmi Party after the land deal.
ED alleges that Kavita was a prominent member of the ‘South Group’, a group of liquor traders. People associated with the South Group are accused of giving a bribe of Rs 100 crore to AAP in exchange for the license of liquor business in Delhi.
The South Group is a group of politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats from the South. It included Aurobindo Pharma promoter Sharath Reddy, YSRCP Lok Sabha MP M. Srinivasulu Reddy, his son Raghav Magunta and Kavitha. This group was represented by Arun Pillai, Abhishek Boinpalli and Buchibabu. All three have been arrested in the liquor scam.
Will Kavita get relief on the basis of Kejriwal?
- The Delhi High Court has issued notice to both the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI on the bail plea of ​​Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) leader K Kavita. The bail plea of ​​K Kavita will be heard in the Delhi High Court on May 24. In this case, Justice Swarn Kanta Sharma has asked the investigating agencies to file their reply. It is possible that in Kavita’s case too, the lawyer will cite the example of the case related to Kejriwal.
- Experts believe that K. Kavitha is neither the Chief Minister of any state nor does she hold any important post in any national party. Therefore, it is very difficult for K. Kavitha to get relief by considering the Kejriwal case as a precedent.
According to Supreme Court lawyer Virag Gupta, interim bail can be granted in case of delay in disposal of bail application, but there is no legal tradition of interim bail on the basis of delay in investigation or charge sheet. Other people can demand interim bail on this basis, but there is little hope of them getting relief from the court.
Is participating in election campaign a fundamental or constitutional right?
According to Supreme Court lawyer Virag Gupta, fundamental rights are mentioned in Part-3 of the Constitution. All Indian citizens above 18 years of age have the right to get their names included in the voter list.
People above 25 years of age whose names are in the voter list have the right to contest the MLA/MP elections. People convicted for more than 2 years do not have the right to contest the elections. People imprisoned for less than two years can contest the elections.
Undertrial prisoners in jail do not have the right to vote. Participating in election campaign is not a fundamental or constitutional right.
Is it right to grant interim bail for election campaigning in terms of equality and law?
A rule for interim bail has been made in case there is a delay in the settlement of the bail petition. It is clear from the ED’s affidavit that granting interim bail for election campaigning is wrong. According to several decisions of the Supreme Court, politicians cannot be given the status of a separate special class.
After this decision, needy prisoners will be able to apply for interim bail on humanitarian grounds. If ordinary people do not get interim bail under the right to life, then giving VIP status to leaders for interim bail would be against equality and the rule of law. However, the Supreme Court has considered Kejriwal’s case to be extraordinary.
What can happen next in the case of Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest?
The Supreme Court has only granted interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal. He will have to surrender on June 2. During this time, the hearing on the petition challenging Kejriwal’s arrest will continue. Justice Sanjeev Khanna has said that he will try to conclude the arguments and give the verdict in a week.
Now three things can happen in the Supreme Court – first, Kejriwal’s arrest may be declared illegal, second – Kejriwal’s arrest may be proved valid or third – the Supreme Court can also send the case to the lower court.
