“We Make it Clear, We Don’t Want You to be Performing Official Duties if We Release You,” The Supreme Court Told Arvind Kejriwal
The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, while continuing the hearing of Arvind Kejriwal’s bail plea, hinted at granting him interim bail.
Image Source: The Wire
The two-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, though did not pass any order, said that if interim bail is granted, Mr. Kejriwal will be debarred from discharging any official duties.
“Suppose we release you, you are allowed to participate in elections, you will be performing official duties…it can have cascading effects…we make it clear, we don’t want you to be performing official duties if we release you,” Justice Sanjiv Khanna was reported as saying during the hearing.
However, the bench also deliberated on the question of whether interim bail can be granted or not. Senior AM Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, stated that Arvind Kejriwal is willing to abide by an undertaking to not sign any official files if released on interim bail in the excise policy case. “He will not sign any files, with a condition that LG may not stop any work on the ground that I have not signed any file,” the Senior Advocate remarked.
The Enforcement Directorate vociferously opposed Kejriwal’s bail plea, stating that politicians cannot be treated as a different class and that Kejriwal’s case has to be considered on the same pedestal as that of a common man. “Please do not earmark a political leader as a separate class and let them not be separated from the common man. It is being stated that nothing was done (by ED) in 1.5 years and (he was) picked up during elections. This is not the correct impression at all,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, stated in the courtroom.
The Solicitor General stressed that granting bail to Kejriwal on the grounds of elections will set a bad precedent and others will seek similar exemptions.
Over this, the court said that it is not generating any special exemption for politicians but was only passing the order taking into cognizance that the general elections are due.
“We are not going by whether he is a politician or not a politician. Every individual involved will have a special circumstance or case involved. We have to see if that person falls under that special circumstance considering elections are there. We are not saying there is a different law for others,” the court said.
The matter will be taken up again on May 9.
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