The Supreme Court on Tuesday (May 7) reserved its order on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest by the ED in the money laundering case linked to liquor scam. The top court heard the arguments from ASG SV Raju, SG Tushar Mehta, representing the ED, and Kejriwal's lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi earlier in the day and made reactions on the case. The hearing comes after Kejriwal filed a petition challenging his arrest in a money laundering case linked to the alleged liquor scam in the national capital. The court did not pronounce any order on Tuesday and reserved the verdict. The top court is likely to hear the case on Thursday or next week.
What happened during the hearing?
Supreme Court told Kejriwal’s lawyer that if it gives interim bail to Kejriwal it doesn’t want him to be performing official duties as somewhere it will lead to conflict. "We do not want interference at all in the working of the government," it said. Supreme Court said if elections were not there then it would not have given any interim relief.
SG Tushar Mehta said that RP Act says that the right to vote also gets suspended if you are in judicial custody. "Do not keep leaders in a separate class. Everyone is equal in the eyes of law. You listen to the facts. It was told to the court that he was arrested before the elections," he said.
Kejriwal not a habitual criminal: SC
Justice Sanjeev Khanna said that Kejriwal is not a "habitual criminal". The ED lawyer said that "no wrong message should be sent from the country's biggest court" that a Chief Minister can "get a different treatment". "Suppose if we reserve the decision then we will have to pronounce it. But it also has to be seen that this period will not return. We have been granting interim bail in exceptional cases. Arvind Kejriwal is not a habitual criminal," Justice Khanna said.
SG Tushar Mehta said, "No wrong message should be sent from the country's biggest court. It would be unfortunate if this happens. Don't make this an exception. This will discourage a common man. That means if you are CM then you will get different treatment. If this happens then every citizen of the country will file a petition seeking bail".
Justice Khanna said that people cannot be treated differently and the bench agrees with this. "We are in the Supreme Court, we can say that the arrest was correct and still grant interim bail and then correct ourselves," he said.
Tushar Mehta said that Kejriwal evaded summons for six months and had he cooperated with the agency earlier, he might not have been arrested. "He went on meditation, kept postponing the summons for 6 months, if he had cooperated earlier, the arrest might not have taken place," he said.
SC takes note of Kejriwal evading summons
Justice Khanna said, "He has the right to say that the arrest took place just before the elections. We understand your objections. 9 summons, 6 months, he has not appeared before the investigating agency, we are taking that also on record".
SG Mehta said that Kejriwal is a chief minister without any ministry. He urged the court not to make "political leaders a separate class".
"All the decisions being cited were final orders. He says that this is my fundamental right… but the right to food is also a fundamental right. A large number of people are rotting in jail. Do the common man have less rights? According to my knowledge, the court has not given any such order till date. He is the Chief Minister without any ministry. Singhvi should tell what work Kejriwal does. Earlier there was talk of Delhi elections...now they have started talking of Punjab elections. Please do not make political leaders a separate class. There are MDs of companies in jail, they can say that the company is going to go bankrupt and can ask for interim bail," he argued.
Not right for investigating agency to continue investigation for two years: SC
The Supreme Court said that the investigation has been going on for two years. "It is not right for any investigating agency to continue the investigation like this for two years," the bench said. Justice Sanjeev Khanna asked ED whether the political executive was also involved in making the policy. The court said, "The scope of our discussion is till the implementation of Section 19 of ED. Were the provisions of Section 19 followed in Kejriwal's arrest or not? You tell the court about this."
ASG Raju, "We came to know that Arvind Kejriwal stayed in a 7 star hotel in Goa during the Goa Assembly elections...its bill was paid by Chanpreet Singh, who allegedly accepted cash funds for AAP’s campaign...This is not a politically motivated case. We are not concerned with politics, we are concerned with evidence and we have it".
"We can show that Kejriwal demanded Rs 100 crore. In the initial phase, there was no focus on Kejriwal, the investigating agency was not paying attention to him. As the investigation progressed, his role became clear," he added.
Raju said that there is not a single statement exonerating Kejriwal. After ASG Raju, SG Tushar Mehta started presenting the side of ED and said that such petitions should not be heard at this stage. The SC said," We are just setting the legal parameters."
Justice Dipankar Dutta said, "If there is material that points to guilt, and others that point to not guilty, can you selectively take some material only?" Raju said that it depends on the investigating officer. Justice Dutta said, "Is this an administrative function? You have to balance both. You can't exclude a part. You are taking away a person's right to live".
"All facts have to be seen...The standard of arrest is very high," he added. The Supreme Court heard the plea by Kejriwal on his arrest by the ED on March 21. On April 9, the Delhi High Court had upheld Kejriwal’s arrest and made sharp observations. Meanwhile, a Delhi court extended the judicial custody of Kejriwal in the case till May 20.
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