Delhi High Court to pass order on ED's plea against CM Kejriwal's bail in excise policy case on Tuesday

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court will on Tuesday pronounce its order on the Enforcement Directorate's plea seeking a stay on the release of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on bail in a money laundering case related to the now-scrapped excise policy.

On June 21, the court had reserved its order and had said that it would pass its order in two to three days.

Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain will pronounce the judgement at 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday.

The ED moved the high court after a trial court on June 20 granted bail to the Chief Minister in the case. The high court then stayed the order till it pronounced its final order on ED’s plea, meaning that Kejriwal would remain in judicial custody till then.

The ED had sought a 48-hour deferral in signing the bail bond following the pronouncement of the order. However, the trial court firmly denied the ED's plea for a stay.

Additional Solicitor General, S.V. Raju, on behalf of the ED, urgently mentioned the plea before the high court's vacation bench comprising Justices Jain and Ravinder Dudeja.

"I am moving for an urgent stay. The order was pronounced yesterday at 8 p.m. The order is not uploaded. We were not given a clear opportunity to oppose bail," he argued.

ASG Raju further said that his prayer for a stay on the bail order wasn't even considered. "I am demanding that the order be stayed and the matter be heard as soon as possible. We were denied the full opportunity to argue the case. I am making allegations with full seriousness," he stated.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing CM Kejriwal, opposed the stay request, citing legal precedents. "There are ten Supreme Court judgments that cancellation of bail is radically different from grant of bail," he contended.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the High Court directed that the bail order should not be enforced until the matter is heard in full. "The bail order will not be given effect. We have not passed the final order. You may argue as much as you can," the Bench stated, effectively halting CM Kejriwal's release.