Arvind Kejriwal granted interim bail by Supreme Court, but will remain in jail. Here's why

First Published Jul 12, 2024, 3:55 PM IST | Last Updated Jul 12, 2024, 3:55 PM IST

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was on Friday (July 12) granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in a money-laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). However, he will remain in jail due to a separate arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, which had reserved its verdict on Kejriwal's plea on May 17, announced the judgment, noting that he has been incarcerated for over 90 days. Kejriwal, who is also the chief of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was initially arrested on March 21 by the ED in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.

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The 55-year-old politician had challenged the April 9 order of the Delhi High Court, which upheld his arrest, saying there was no illegality in it and that the central probe agency had "little option" after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation. Despite being granted interim bail by the Supreme Court, Kejriwal will stay in jail due to his arrest by the CBI in a related corruption case concerning the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.

Kejriwal has also challenged his June 26 arrest by the CBI and has sought bail, with the Delhi High Court scheduled to hear arguments on this matter on July 17.

Previously, Kejriwal was granted 21-day interim bail in the money-laundering case by the Supreme Court on May 10 to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. He was directed to surrender on June 2, following the conclusion of the seven-phase elections. Subsequently, a trial court in Delhi granted him bail on June 20. However, the ED contested this decision, calling it "perverse," "one-sided," and "wrong-sided." The Delhi High Court imposed an interim stay on the trial court's bail order on June 21 and passed a detailed order staying the trial court's decision on June 25.

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On June 26, Kejriwal was arrested by the CBI in connection with the corruption case related to the alleged liquor policy scam.

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