New Delhi, July 15: The Delhi High Court has scheduled the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) plea challenging the bail granted to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam for August 7.
Previously, the high court had stayed the trial court's June 20 order that granted Kejriwal bail. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, who was set to hear the plea, was informed by Kejriwal's counsel that they received a copy of the ED's rejoinder late Sunday night and needed time to respond. The counsel noted that the Supreme Court had granted Kejriwal interim bail on Friday, and they intended to submit the order copy. They requested 15 days to file the rejoinder.
The court agreed to hear the matter on August 7. On June 20, Kejriwal was granted bail by a trial court on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh. The ED challenged this decision the next day, arguing that the trial court's order was "perverse," "one-sided," and based on irrelevant facts.
In response, Kejriwal claimed he was a victim of a "witch-hunt" by the ED and that revoking his bail would be a "grave miscarriage of justice." He argued that discretionary bail orders should not be overturned based on the prosecution's "perceptions and fanciful imagination."
On June 21, the high court imposed an interim stay on the trial court’s bail order, pending a decision on the ED’s application for interim relief. A detailed order staying the trial court’s bail decision was issued on June 25.
