The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal until June 1, allowing him to campaign during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
The order implies that the Aam Aadmi Party chief will be campaigning before Delhi goes to polls on May 25.
However, Kejriwal will have to surrender and return to jail on June 2, just before the crucial counting and result day on June 4.
The bench, comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, dismissed the request made by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, to extend the interim bail until June 5.
Although the formalities for release may take some time, Kejriwal’s lawyer, Shadan Farasat, expressed optimism about him walking out of jail on Friday.
Notably, the interim bail doesn’t impose any restrictions on Kejriwal’s election campaigning, as confirmed by Farasat.
The decision to grant bail was made in light of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, despite opposition from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which argued that electioneering isn’t a constitutional right.
The ED opposed, saying that there were no precedents where a politician was granted interim bail for election campaigning.
However, the Supreme Court reasoned that a 21-day interim bail for Kejriwal wouldn’t significantly impact the elections.
The bench further noted that the liquor policy case was registered in August 2022 and Kejriwal was arrested only in March 2024 after nearly one and half years.
