Supreme Court grants bail to Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi excise policy case
Justice Bhuyan, however, raised questions on the timing and manner of Arvind Kejriwal's arrest by the CBI.
The Supreme Court has granted regular bail to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case.
The Supreme Court set aside the Delhi high court's August order. Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan concurred on granting regular bail to Kejriwal.
Justice Bhuyan, however, raised questions on the timing and manner of Arvind Kejriwal's arrest by the CBI.
He said the CBI's arrest was perhaps only to frustrate the grant of bail to Arvind Kejriwal in the ED case.
He said non-cooperation cannot mean self-incrimination. "And therefore, Kejriwal's arrest by the CBI on this ground was impermissible," he added.
Also read: 'CBI must show it is an uncaged parrot': Supreme Court's strong observation in Arvind Kejriwal bail hearing
"Bail is the rule, and jail an exception. All courts must ensure that the prosecution and the process of trial don't become a form of punishment in itself," he observed.
In a strongly worded rebuke, Justice Bhuyan said the CBI must ensure that the perception of it being a caged parrot is discarded.
Also read: 'CBI's arrest was perhaps to frustrate bail to Arvind Kejriwal in ED case': Supreme Court's strong words in bail order
He expressed reservations against restraining Arvind Kejriwal from entering the CM's office or signing files, but he eventually agreed with these conditions, as imposed by another bench while granting him bail in the ED case.
The apex court had reserved the verdict on September 5.
During the hearing of the case, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the CBI, had objected to Kejriwal not approaching the trial court for bail.
Kejriwal had directly approached the Delhi high court for bail and then moved to the apex court.
On August 5, the Delhi high court upheld the arrest of the chief minister as "legal". It had dismissed Arvind Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest, saying it was only after sufficient evidence was collected and sanction was obtained in April 2024 that the CBI proceeded with further probe against him.
The high court had found "no malice in the acts of the CBI".
"The control and the influence which he has on the witnesses is prima facie borne out from the fact that these witnesses could muster the courage to be a witness only after the arrest of the petitioner, as highlighted by the special prosecutor," it had said in its order.
Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21. On June 26, he was arrested by the CBI while he was in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate.
Arvind Kejriwal is accused of accepting kickbacks from a group of businessmen in return for granting them favours in the formulation and implementation of now-scrapped excise policy.
With inputs from agencies