IANS | 25 Jun, 2024
Delhi High Court on Tuesday, in its final verdict on the Enforcement
Directorate's plea, stayed a trial court order granting bail to Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal.
Justice Sudhir Jain said that the documents and arguments were not
appreciated by the trial court.
On June 20, a Delhi court granted bail to the Chief Minister in
connection with a money laundering case related to the now-scrapped excise
policy.
Following this, the ED moved the high court which stayed the order till
its pronouncement of the final order.
Now, Justice Jain in his final order said that the trial court vacation
bench did not apply its mind to the material and it ought to give equal
opportunity to the ED to argue bail application.
He said that other arguments will be considered by the roster bench.
The ED had sought a 48-hour deferral in signing the bail bond following
the pronouncement of the order. However, the trial court firmly denied the ED's
plea for a stay.
ED’s plea was urgently mentioned before a vacation bench comprising
Justices Sudhir Kumar Jain and Ravinder Dudeja by Additional Solicitor General,
S.V. Raju, on behalf of the ED.
"I am moving for an urgent stay. The order was pronounced yesterday
at 8 p.m. The order is not uploaded. We were not given a clear opportunity to
oppose bail," he had argued.
ASG Raju had further said that his prayer for a stay on the bail order
wasn't even considered. "I am demanding that the order be stayed and the
matter be heard as soon as possible. We were denied the full opportunity to
argue the case. I am making allegations with full seriousness," he stated.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing CM Kejriwal, had
opposed the stay request, citing legal precedents. "There are 10 Supreme
Court judgments that cancellation of bail is radically different from grant of
bail," he had contended.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the high court directed that
the bail order should not be enforced until the matter is heard in full.
"The bail order will not be given effect. We have not passed the final
order. You may argue as much as you can," the bench had stated,
effectively halting CM Kejriwal's release.