In HC, Kejriwal opposes ED’s plea against his bail in excise case

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday opposed before the Delhi high court a plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the bail he was granted, arguing that discretionary orders of bail cannot be set aside merely on perceptions and fanciful imagination of the prosecution.

Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener, is currently in jail in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22.

On June 20, a Delhi court had granted him bail, citing lack of direct evidence — an order that was halted by the high court less than 24 hours later, on June 21. On June 25, a vacation bench of justice Sudhir Kumar Jain stayed the bail order, saying it was perverse and was passed without appreciating the material submitted by ED.

In a 91-page reply filed on the eve of the high court hearing the ED plea, Kejriwal raised questions regarding the maintainability of the federal probe agency’s plea, and asserted that the high court equated the bail order with an order of guilt or acquittal, which ought to have detailed findings after meticulously weighing the evidence.

The AAP chief asserted that the court, before granting bail to him, had clearly heard ED, and the agency could not condemn and criticise the order.

“The approach to cancel bail by way of interim order is unheard in law and is also completely contrary to the principle of grant of bail. Every contention of the ED has been dealt with clearly and cogently by the Learned Court,” the reply read.

Urging the court to reject EDs contention of not being heard at the outset, Kejriwal, in his reply filed through advocates Vivek Jain and Mohd Irshad, asserted that the city court asking the federal agency’s counsel to be brief could by no stretch of imagination be construed as curtailing an opportunity of being heard. “All the submissions made by ED are not only untenable in law but also reflect their apathy, insensitivity and overbearing as well as over- reaching attitude towards Courts of law,” the reply stated.