Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal may get temporary release from jail soon. This is because the Supreme Court will think about giving him interim bail, considering the ongoing national elections for Lok Sabha (the lower house of India’s parliament). The elections are happening in 2024.
Kejriwal is the top leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). He has been in jail for more than one month after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him. The ED is a government agency that investigates financial crimes. They arrested Kejriwal in a case related to money laundering linked to the Delhi excise policy.
A panel of two Supreme Court judges, Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, will hear Kejriwal’s case. The ED took Kejriwal into custody on March 21. Later, he was moved to Tihar Jail after the Supreme Court did not give him relief from arrest in an earlier hearing.
The Supreme Court said on May 3 that it would think about giving temporary bail to Kejriwal, keeping in mind the ongoing general elections. The court told the ED that complete arguments against Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest would take time. So, there is a chance the court may consider interim bail for Kejriwal due to the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi. Voting in Delhi is scheduled for May 25.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has recommended an investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against Arvind Kejriwal. The reason is Kejriwal’s alleged political funding received from a banned terrorist group called ‘Sikhs for Justice’. This information came from sources at Raj Niwas, the LG’s official residence, on Monday.
However, AAP has rejected these charges. The party called the LG’s recommendation another “conspiracy” against Kejriwal at the direction of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which runs the central government. AAP accused the LG of being a “BJP agent”. Copy