Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Withdraws Supreme Court Plea Challenging Bail Stay
New Delhi: On Wednesday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal withdrew his plea filed before the Supreme Court challenging the interim stay imposed by the Delhi High Court on his release on bail in a money laundering case related to the alleged liquor policy scam.
A vacation bench, led by Justice Manoj Misra, acknowledged the submission that a new plea would be filed before the Supreme Court in light of the recent decision by the Delhi High Court to stay the trial court’s order granting bail to Kejriwal.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, stated, “I seek your lordships’ permission to withdraw the present special leave petition with express liberty to file a fresh petition challenging both the June 21 and June 25 orders passed by the Delhi High Court.”
Granting permission to file a new petition, the bench, which also included Justice SVN Bhatti, dismissed the current petition as withdrawn.
In its final verdict on a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Delhi High Court on Tuesday criticized the trial court vacation bench for not thoroughly considering all the material and emphasized the need to give the ED an equal opportunity to argue the bail application.
On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to issue any immediate directive against the Delhi High Court’s stay on Kejriwal’s bail release.
Without granting any interim relief to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, the Supreme Court adjourned the proceedings, stating it would hear the matter on Wednesday, as the Delhi High Court was expected to decide on the ED’s plea for an interim stay within a day or two.
Earlier, on June 21, the Delhi High Court had issued an interim order staying Kejriwal’s release on bail following a plea from the ED challenging the trial court’s bail decision.
A vacation bench of Justices Sudhir Kumar Jain and Ravinder Dudeja directed that the bail order not be enforced until the matter was fully heard. The High Court subsequently reserved its decision on the ED’s plea for an interim stay, indicating an order would be issued within two to three days.
The ED had requested a 48-hour delay in signing the bail bond from the trial court on June 20, following the order’s pronouncement. However, the trial court firmly denied the ED’s request for a stay on its order granting bail.
