The Supreme Court on Friday, May 10 has granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal till June 1. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) hours after the Delhi High Court denied him protection against "coercive action" by the central agency on March 21. This is the same case in which leaders of Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party – Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia, were also arrested. It is to note that the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi would be held on May 25.
The ED had alleged that CM Kejriwal was directly involved in the formulation of the Excise Policy 2021-22, drafted "considering the favours to be granted to the South Group" and that he demanded kickbacks from the South Group in exchange for favours to them in the formulation and implementation of the Excise Policy 2021-22.
Kejriwal had moved the top court after the Delhi High Court on May 7 dismissed his petition challenging his arrest and the trial court order remanding him to the federal anti-money laundering agency's custody. A bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma took note of the ED's submission that the agency had enough material, including statements from approvers and allegations of involvement in the formulation of the excise policy, which had led them to arrest him.
On Friday, a Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said that the liquor policy case was registered in August 2022 and Kejriwal was arrested only in March 2024, after nearly one and half years.