Delhi High Court issues notice to CBI on bail plea of Kejriwal

Lawyers write to CFI, raise 'conflict of interest' issue against Delhi HC judge for hearing EDs plea

The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to respond to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s bail plea in the corruption case registered by the probe agency in connection with the alleged excise policy scam.

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna issued a notice to the CBI on the bail plea and listed it for further hearing on July 17.

Kejriwal sought bail claiming that there was no necessity to arrest him in the CBI case and that his custody was illegal. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, argued that the AAP leader is not a flight risk nor a terrorist, and that the CBI arrested him after he was granted bail in the ED’s money laundering case. He stated that Kejriwal has deep roots in society and requested interim relief in the matter.

Advocate DP Singh, appearing for the CBI, objected to Kejriwal directly approaching the High Court without first filing the bail plea before the trial court. The Judge took note of the objection and stated, “The contention shall be considered at the time of arguments.”

Senior advocate Vikram Chaudhari, also representing Kejriwal, argued that while remanding him in custody, the trial court had said the arrest was illegal. He added that revisiting this issue would be a futile exercise.