Arvind Kejriwal Bail: ED reaches High Court against CM Arvind Kejriwal's bail, demands immediate hearing

The ED has moved the Delhi High Court against the trial court's order granting bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi Excise Policy money laundering case. The ED has demanded an immediate hearing of the case.

On Thursday, Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court gave a big relief to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by granting him bail in the money laundering case related to the excise policy. Earlier, Kejriwal was granted bail by the Supreme Court to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections. After that, he surrendered on June 2.

Vacation Judge Niya Bindu passed this order after hearing Kejriwal and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for two days. Earlier, he had reserved the decision after hearing the arguments of both sides during the day. He had clarified yesterday that he would give the decision immediately after the completion of the debate as this case is high profile.

After the court pronounced the order on Thursday evening, the ED requested whether the signing of the bail bond could be postponed for 48 hours so that the order could be challenged before the appellate court. The court rejected his plea and refused to stay the order. In its order, the court has admitted Kejriwal to bail on a personal bond of Rs one lakh.

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 on charges that he was part of a conspiracy to deliberately leave loopholes in the now-expired Delhi Excise Policy of 2021-22 to benefit certain liquor sellers.

The ED has alleged that the bribe received from liquor sellers was used for the election campaign of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Goa and Kejriwal, being the national convener of the party, is personally and vicariously liable for the offense of money laundering. Kejriwal has denied the allegations and accused the ED of running an extortion racket.