NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is scheduled to deliver its verdict on 13 September, Friday, regarding Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s petitions challenging his arrest by the CBI and seeking interim bail in the Delhi excise policy case.According to the cause list for 13 September, uploaded on the apex court’s website, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, who reserved their verdict on the pleas on 5 September, will pronounce the judgment on 13 September, Friday.The Supreme Court had heard detailed arguments and submissions from Kejriwal, represented by his senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, and from the CBI, represented by its advocate and Senior Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju.It is pertinent to note that Kejriwal had already been granted bail by the Supreme Court on 12 July in the same case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). He was arrested by the CBI on 26 June in this case.Terming Kejriwal’s arrest as illegal and arbitrary, Singhvi argued that there should be safeguards for such actions. “There should be safeguards regarding the arrest of an accused person. You can’t be trigger-happy… You can’t just barge in to arrest without any basis,” he said.Singhvi also argued before the top court that the case was unusual and unprecedented. “This was perhaps the only case where I got two release orders under the stringent PMLA law, which has a bar of Section 45 from this court and another detailed order from the High Court. Then there was this insurance arrest in the predicate offence by the CBI. Please see the CBI FIR. I am not named. Then there is an ECIR by the ED. Then comes when I am called by the CBI for questioning for about 8 to 9 hours as a witness. On 24 March, I am arrested by the ED and not the CBI,” he said.”A man who is a constitutional functionary cannot be a flight risk at all. He is not a threat to society. Not a hardened criminal. The cooperation that is required is that he goes when called for trial,” Singhvi argued, stating that Kejriwal satisfied the triple test formula.In seeking bail for Kejriwal, Singhvi stated that four chargesheets in the CBI case and nine in the ED case had been filed. There are thousands of pages of documents, so evidence cannot be tampered with.Opposing Singhvi’s arguments, ASG Raju said that the accused, Kejriwal, had approached the Delhi High Court without going to the sessions court first. “This was my preliminary objection. On merits, the trial court could have seen it first. The High Court was made to see merits, which can only be in exceptional cases. In ordinary cases, the sessions court must be approached first. They came here and then approached the High Court, and then again came to the Supreme Court, which decided the matter.”The central probe agency contended that there was no violation of laws in arresting Kejriwal and claimed that the AAP chief was “attempting to politically sensationalise the case.”Raju also argued that just because the person was influential, it should not affect the proceedings. “Bail should not be granted to him,” he said.The CBI, in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, stated that Kejriwal might tamper with evidence if granted interim bail by the SC in the Delhi excise case. The CBI’s reply responded to Kejriwal’s pleas seeking quashing of his arrest and interim bail by the Central agency in the Delhi excise policy case.
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