Supreme Court verdict tomorrow on Arvind Kejriwal bail plea

The Supreme Court will deliver its verdict tomorrow on the plea filed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking bail and quashing of arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Delhi Excise Policy case. [Arvind Kejriwal v. Central Bureau of Investigation].A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan will deliver the judgment, having reserved it on September 5..Kejriwal filed two separate pleas before the top court - one challenging the legality of his arrest by CBI and a second plea seeking bail.The Delhi High Court had on August 5 refused Kejriwal's petitions in that regard and had asked him to approach trial court for bail.This led to the instant appeal by Kejriwal before the apex court.The CBI arrested Kejriwal on June 26 while he was in judicial custody in connection with a money laundering case probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the same scam.The case against Kejriwal stems from alleged irregularities in the framing of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy of 2021-22.The case involves allegations that several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders including Kejriwal were involved in deliberately leaving loopholes in the excise policy in exchange for kickbacks from liquor lobbies. The investigation agencies have alleged that the funds garnered from this exercise were used to fund the AAP's election campaign in Goa.The case is being probed by both the CBI and the ED.Kejriwal was first arrested in the matter by the ED on March 21.He was later granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in the ED case.However, despite this interim bail order, he continued to remain in jail since the CBI also formally arrested him in the case on June 26 while he was in judicial custody in connection with the ED case.He then moved the High Court directly for bail instead of moving the trial court first, which is the usual course of action adopted by accused persons. .When the matter was heard on September 5, the CBI argued that Kejriwal should have first approached the trial court for bail instead of directly moving the Delhi High Court. The CBI also contended that Kejriwal is likely to tamper with evidence and hamper its ongoing probe in the Delhi Excise Policy case, if he is released on interim bail.Further, the central agency also claimed that the Delhi High Court will get demoralised if Kejriwal is granted bail..Other prominent leaders including AAP leaders including Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh were granted bail by the Supreme Court in the same case. AAP communications-in charge Vijay Nair and Bharat Rashtra Samithi leaders K Kavitha were also granted bail by the top court recently in the case.