Excise Policy Case: Delhi High Court Stays Arvind Kejriwal's Bail

The Delhi High Court has stayed the trial court order granting bail to AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case. The verdict on a plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking a stay on the June 20 trial court order was pronounced by the vacation bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain.

According to a Bar and Bench report, the Delhi High Court said that the trial court did not apply its mind to the material submitted by the ED and did not give adequate opportunity to the probe agency to argue its case. "Observation by trial court that voluminous material cannot be considered is totally unjustified and it shows that the trial court has not applied its mind to the material," Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain said, as quoted by Bar and Bench.

Additionally, the High Court also said that the finding of the trial court that there were malafides on the probe agency's part was incorrect since the High Court itself had in an earlier order rejected such a claim. "Trial court should not have given any finding which is opposite to the finding of the High Court," Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain said.

The AAP leader was arrested in a case related to the Delhi Excise policy on March 21. Later, the Supreme Court granted bail to Kejriwal on May 10, and he returned to jail on June 2. The Delhi CM was granted bail by the trial court on June 20. However, ED moved the Delhi High Court on June 21, challenging the grant of bail.