Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday withdrew his petition filed in the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court’s interim stay on a trial court order granting him bail in the liquor policy case, Bar and Bench reported.
A bench of Justices Manoj Misra and SVN Bhatti on Wednesday allowed the request to withdraw the petition and permitted the chief minister to file a fresh plea after his counsel said that he would like to challenge the final stay order the High Court had passed on Tuesday.
“Events are overtaking us every day,” Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, told the court, reported The Indian Express. “The judgement has come which has all kinds of issues, including a remarkable point that the High Court order was binding, in which your lordships have given leave and granted us liberty to apply for bail.”
Singhvi added that on Wednesday the Central Bureau of Investigation also arrested Kejriwal in a 2022 notice for interrogation. He said that the politician has been rearrested while facing charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act by the Enforcement Directorate.
On June 20, vacation Judge Nyay Bindu of the Rouse Avenue Courts had granted bail to Kejriwal. The High Court, however, issued an interim stay on the order on the next day as it allowed an urgent hearing of a petition by the Enforcement Directorate.
On Monday, the Supreme Court said that it would hear on Wednesday the Aam Aadmi Party chief’s plea challenging the High Court’s decision to impose the interim stay on his bail. It also noted that it was unusual that the High Court did not release the order immediately on Friday.
On Tuesday, the High Court stayed the bail in its final order and said that the trial court “did not properly appreciate the material on record and the averments of ED [Enforcement Directorate]”.
The Aam Aadmi Party chief was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21. The Enforcement Directorate is investigating allegations of money laundering in the liquor policy case based on a first information report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The two central agencies have alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government modified Delhi’s now-scrapped liquor policy by increasing the commission for wholesalers from 5% to 12%. This allegedly facilitated the receipt of bribes from wholesalers who had a substantial market share and turnover.
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