Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has got bail from the Supreme Court in the CBI case after the ED. He can come out of Tihar Jail by this evening. However, the court has declared the CBI arrest as valid and has fixed the conditions of bail. The court has imposed the same conditions for bail as it had imposed while granting bail in the ED case. Kejriwal will have to follow those conditions after coming out. It is believed that Kejriwal’s problems have not reduced due to the conditions of release. He may have to face difficulties in running the government. At present, everyone from party leaders to workers is happy with Kejriwal’s release. Celebrations are being held from the CM’s residence to the party office. Know the meaning of Kejriwal’s release in seven points.
Actually, Kejriwal is also trapped in the money laundering case related to the alleged liquor scam of Delhi. ED sent 9 summons to Kejriwal from November 2023 to March 2024. But he did not join the interrogation. After that ED arrested Kejriwal on 21 March. After 10 days of interrogation, Kejriwal was sent to Tihar Jail on 1 April. Meanwhile, on 26 June, the CBI arrested Kejriwal. Later on July 12, Kejriwal got bail in the ED case, but could not be released from jail due to CBI arrest. Aam Aadmi Party is constantly claiming that BJP has implicated Kejriwal under a political conspiracy. At the same time, BJP is saying that if you sow acacia tree, how will you get mangoes.
What conditions will Kejriwal have to follow?
– After coming out of jail, Kejriwal will not be able to sign any file unless it is necessary to do so.
– Kejriwal will also be restricted from going to his office. He will not be able to go to either the Chief Minister’s office or the Secretariat.
– Kejriwal cannot make any statement or comment in this matter.
– Cannot talk to any witness in any manner.
– I cannot call for any official file related to this case. I cannot even see it.
– If necessary, will appear in the trial court and cooperate in the investigation.
– Bed bond of Rs 10 lakh will have to be filled.
1. Why is Kejriwal still facing difficulties?
On Friday, Supreme Court Justice Suryakant gave the decision to grant Kejriwal regular bail. Justice Ujjwal Bhuiyan agreed with his decision. The court has granted bail to Kejriwal on a bond of Rs 10 lakh. The bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice Ujjwal Bhuiyan said that the arrest by CBI was within the rules. Justice Suryakant said that if a person is already in custody and it is not wrong to arrest him again in connection with the investigation. The court said, CBI has not violated any rules. They needed to investigate, so he was arrested in this case. Earlier, Kejriwal’s lawyer had questioned the arrest and called it illegal. This decision of the court is being considered a setback for Kejriwal. Kejriwal will still be a part of the trial and will remain within the legal framework.
2. Will Kejriwal remain limited to election campaign only?
For now, the way for Kejriwal to come out of jail has been cleared. But, the bail conditions will come in the way of Kejriwal’s work and will create difficulties in running the government. In fact, according to the bail conditions, Kejriwal cannot take any policy decisions or sign any government file. He can only limit himself to election campaigning. No decision related to the government is allowed. In such a situation, the hopes that Kejriwal can take rapid decisions as the Chief Minister as soon as he comes out, do not seem to be coming true. Especially the scheme of Rs 1000 per month for women has not been implemented till now. All such schemes may prove to be a distant dream to be brought on the ground before the Delhi elections.
3. So will Kejriwal remain the Chief Minister?
However, it is certain that Kejriwal will remain the Chief Minister. He will not leave his post. Because, even after spending a long time in jail, he has not left the post, so now there is little hope of him leaving the responsibility.
4. Will BJP’s campaign lose steam?
Apart from this, there were rumours of President’s rule in Delhi. It was being argued that work in Delhi has come to a standstill due to the Chief Minister being in jail. Recently, BJP MLAs had submitted their demand letter to the President and demanded imposition of President’s rule in Delhi. The President has sent this demand letter to the Union Home Secretary for consideration. But after Kejriwal comes out, this campaign of BJP may lose steam.
5. What is the relief with Kejriwal coming out?
Kejriwal is considered to be an expert in understanding the pulse of the people of Delhi. Kejriwal’s exit just 4 months before the assembly elections is going to bring the most stir in Delhi politics. The opposition has also believed that Kejriwal’s exit will double the strength of the Aam Aadmi Party at least in Delhi.
6. Will Kejriwal save the organization from disintegrating?
Kejriwal’s exit is definitely good news for the organization. The party was facing a crisis of faces for the last 6 months. From Sunita Kejriwal to Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, everyone was taking decisions related to the organization. Earlier, Atishi, Saurabh Bhardwaj and MP Sandeep Pathak were brought forward. The party has suffered big shocks in the last few days. Big leaders like former minister Rajkumar Anand and Rajendra Pal Gautam have left the party. Rajkumar has been an MLA from Patel Nagar and he has gone to BJP. Gautam has joined Congress. He has been an MLA from Seemapuri and was a minister in the Kejriwal government. Apart from this, many councilors have also left AAP.
7. Roles of Sisodia and big leaders will be decided
At one point of time, the top leadership of Aam Aadmi Party was almost completely in jail in the excise policy case, but the relief that started after Manish Sisodia’s bail is going to be completed with Kejriwal coming out of jail. After achieving the status of a national party in the Gujarat assembly elections, there was a challenge of expanding the organization, but shock after shock had put a brake on this ambitious plan. Now, after Kejriwal’s release, many important leaders can be given new responsibilities within the organization so that the party’s vehicle can come back on track. Manish Sisodia is doing padayatra all over Delhi after coming out of jail, but he has not been given any such formal responsibility yet. Kejriwal will now be able to decide in which role Sisodia and other senior leaders will fit better.
What did the Supreme Court say in the Kejriwal case?
Justice Suryakant said that on the basis of the arguments, we have formulated 3 questions. Was the arrest illegal? Should the appellant be granted regular bail? Is filing a chargesheet such a change in circumstances that it can be sent to the trial court? The Supreme Court said, there is nothing wrong in arresting a person in custody. We have found that the CBI has stated the reasons in its application why it felt it was necessary. There has been no violation of Section 41A (iii). We do not find any merit in the argument that the CBI did not comply with Section 41A CrPC.
That is, Kejriwal may have got bail from the Supreme Court, but his arrest was not wrong and the investigating agency did not let Kejriwal’s troubles reduce by proving this in the court. This is the reason why the court has kept the bail conditions strict in the decision. The Supreme Court said, the appellant (Kejriwal) will not make any public comment regarding this case. That is, Kejriwal will have to refrain from making statements. Otherwise, it will be considered a violation of the court’s conditions. The court also made it clear that the conditions imposed in the ED case will be applicable in this case as well. He will fully cooperate with the trial court.
On what basis did Kejriwal get bail?
The Supreme Court said that we have considered the bail. The issue is of freedom. We feel that the result of this case is not likely to come out soon. The apprehensions of the prosecution regarding tampering with evidence and witnesses were considered. They are rejected. We have concluded that the appellant should be granted bail.
At the same time, Justice Bhuiyan said that the CBI should remove the notion that it is a caged parrot, it should show that it is not a caged parrot. The CBI cannot justify the arrest and cannot keep Kejriwal in custody by citing that he is not cooperating in the investigation. When he has got bail in the ED case, keeping him in custody will not be right from the point of view of justice.
There was disagreement between the two judges on the legality of the arrest
However, both the judges of the Supreme Court differed on the legality of Kejriwal’s arrest by the CBI. Justice Suryakant said, long imprisonment is equal to injustice from freedom. But he said that Kejriwal’s arrest was legal and there was no procedural irregularity in it. However, Justice Ujjal Bhuiyan had a different opinion. He said, the arrest made by the CBI was ‘improper’. Justice Bhuiyan said that the arrest despite getting bail in the ED case raises questions. This seems to be an attempt to obstruct the release from jail. The haste of the CBI at the time of release in the ED case is beyond comprehension, whereas it did not take any such step for 22 months.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had reserved its decision on Kejriwal’s petitions on September 5. The CBI had arrested Kejriwal in this case on June 26, at that time Kejriwal was lodged in Tihar Jail. Earlier, the ED had arrested Kejriwal on March 21 in the money laundering case. In the same liquor scam case, two big leaders of Aam Aadmi Party, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh were also lodged in Tihar Jail for a long time. At present, both the leaders are out on bail.
Kejriwal has argued in the court that no concrete evidence has been found against him. He was arrested only on the basis of government witnesses. While the investigating agencies are saying that Kejriwal is the main conspirator in the liquor scam case, so if he is granted bail, the investigation may be affected. The Supreme Court has also reiterated in many previous cases that bail is the rule and custody is an exception. The ED has accused Kejriwal that he was also involved in drafting the liquor policy which benefited the liquor companies and some people and led to the scam. According to the ED, Kejriwal is accused of money laundering in two ways. Also, the ED believes that Kejriwal had also demanded Rs 100 crore. At the same time, the Aam Aadmi Party is also accused of campaigning in the Goa assembly elections with a bribe of Rs 45 crore.
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