New Delhi. Giving its verdict on Tuesday in the money laundering case related to the Delhi liquor scam, the Delhi High Court stayed the lower court’s order granting bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. This means that Kejriwal will remain in jail for now. The High Court had reserved its verdict in this case on Monday while imposing an interim stay on the bail. While giving the verdict on this, Justice Sudhir Jain said that the trial court did not accept the documents and arguments.
On June 20, a Delhi court granted bail to the Chief Minister. After this, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) immediately approached the High Court the very next day, which stayed the order till the final order was issued. Now Justice Jain has said in his final order that the vacation bench of the lower court did not look at all the facts properly. It should have given equal opportunity to the ED to argue on the bail application.
Highlights of Delhi High Court order:
It is clear from the decision of the lower court that the judge passed the order without looking at the entire record, which reflects bias in this order.
The comment made by the trial court judge in the order was not necessary. He should have seen all the relevant documents before passing the order.
It is important for every court to give sufficient time and opportunity to present its case before it. Here too, the judge should have given ED a full opportunity to present its arguments on bail.
The lower court judge should have also taken into consideration the written arguments of the ED. He should have recorded the requirement of Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in his order. Before passing the order, it should have been taken on record that he was satisfied under Section 45.
The ED has its own arguments regarding the role of Arvind Kejriwal and they did not find any place in the order. These arguments of the investigating agency seem to carry weight as the court passed the bail order without taking cognizance of the entire document.
AAP will challenge the decision in Supreme Court
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday said it disagrees with the interim stay imposed by the Delhi High Court on the bail granted to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by a subordinate court and will challenge it in the Supreme Court.
Tags: Aam Aadmi Party, Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi High Court, Delhi liquor scam
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 25, 2024, 16:54 IST