Interim bail for Arvind Kejriwal may be considered due to LS polls, says Supreme Court

Guwahati: In a major move, the Supreme Court on Friday indicated that it may consider interim bail for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal because of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

The matter of this has been posted for further hearing on May 7.

“We may grant or we may not grant. But we must be open to you as neither side should be taken by surprise,” a bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said.

“Please also take instructions — we are not saying anything (on whether bail will be granted or not) — we would like to consider grant of interim bail because of elections. Dr. Singhvi don’t start without even hearing us — we may or may not grant. We are going to hear you. We must be open to you, because neither side should be taken by surprise. Second ... Because of the position you (Kejriwal) hold, whether you should be signing any files? We are being open, do not assume anything ... Do not read anything into it! We are not saying either way,” Justice Khanna said.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was expected to respond on Friday to the queries raised by the apex court, including the question regarding the timing of Kejriwal’s arrest before the elections.

Stating that “life and liberty are exceedingly important”, the Supreme Court had on Tuesday asked the probe agency to respond to Kejriwal’s question regarding the timing of his arrest in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21, days after the 2024 Lok Sabha election schedule was announced.