NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested in March this year in a money laundering case related to implementation of Delhi excise policy of 2021-22. Special judge Niyay Bindu passed the order after hearing submissions of Kejriwal and Enforcement Directorate over two days.
Kejriwal will be out of Tihar Jail on Friday after paying a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh.The court, however, imposed some conditions, including that he will not try to hamper the investigation or influence witnesses. After the order was pronounced around 7.56pm, ED requested the court to defer signing of the bail bond by 48 hours so that the order may be challenged before the appellate court. However, the court rejected the plea and asked for production of the bail bond before the duty judge on Friday. ED will be filing an appeal in HC on Friday. Kejriwal had been arrested by ED on March 21.
ED presuming and speculating: CM to court
A day earlier, his counsel, Vikram Chaudhri, had told the court that the case against him was based entirely on the statements of people who were not only tainted but had also been arrested and subsequently promised bail for supporting ED’s case. He had also argued that there was no corroborative evidence that Rs 100 crore was paid to AAP functionaries by the so-called ‘South Group’ and that there was no “camera recording or money as such which has been exchanged”.
During the hearing on Thursday, additional solicitor general (ASG) S V Raju, who was appearing for ED, told the court that the agency was not conducting an investigation in the air but possessed concrete evidence. He said photos of currency notes produced in court were part of the money given as kickbacks and related to Kejriwal’s stay at a seven-star hotel in Goa.
“Instructions were received from one Vinod Chauhan to make payments to Chanpreet Singh and others. The pictures have been found on the phone of Chauhan. Chanpreet was speaking regularly to him on phone… Chauhan has good relations with Arvind Kejriwal,” claimed Raju.
Chauhan, accused in the case, has been alleged to be handling the proceeds of crimes connected with hawala operators and managing postings in Delhi Jal Board through Kejriwal. ED has said he was the one responsible for the transfer of Rs 25.5 crore from Delhi to Goa.
Chanpreet Singh, according to ED, was AAP’s fund manager for the Goa elections. He has been accused of collecting the proceeds of crime from Chauhan and being responsible for generation/acquisition/use of the alleged proceeds of crime, an amount of Rs 45 crore.
Citing the refusal of the Delhi CM to reveal the password of his phone, ED told the court on Thursday: “Kejriwal says my phone is sacrosanct. Mai password nahi doonga. (I will not give my password)… An adverse inference has to be drawn from the fact that Kejriwal has refused to give his password. A lot of skeletons will come out if he gives his phone. This is a ground for refusing bail under ordinary bail law, forget section 45 PMLA for the time being.”
Arguing that Kejriwal was liable to be prosecuted under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) even if he was not personally involved in any offence, Raju said: “You may not have committed the offence but you are responsible for the affairs of AAP, and if AAP is guilty of an offence, then you are guilty of it as well.”
Turning to co-accused Vijay Nair, ASG said he was unconnected with the government and had no business framing the excise policy. He alleged that Nair was used as a middleman by Kejriwal.
Referring to ED’s summons to CM, the ASG said there was willful disobedience of the summons by Kejriwal and the magistrate had taken cognisance of that and summoned him. Further, ED pointed out that a division bench of Delhi HC did not grant Kejriwal relief after he was arrested by ED.
Responding to ED’s claims, Kejriwal’s counsel Chaudhri questioned the timing of Kejriwal’s arrest. Why did you not arrest him earlier? Why March 21? What did you want from him? Is ED an independent agency or is it playing in the hands of some political masters? said Chaudhri.
Kejriwal will be out of Tihar Jail on Friday after paying a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh.The court, however, imposed some conditions, including that he will not try to hamper the investigation or influence witnesses. After the order was pronounced around 7.56pm, ED requested the court to defer signing of the bail bond by 48 hours so that the order may be challenged before the appellate court. However, the court rejected the plea and asked for production of the bail bond before the duty judge on Friday. ED will be filing an appeal in HC on Friday. Kejriwal had been arrested by ED on March 21.
ED presuming and speculating: CM to court
A day earlier, his counsel, Vikram Chaudhri, had told the court that the case against him was based entirely on the statements of people who were not only tainted but had also been arrested and subsequently promised bail for supporting ED’s case. He had also argued that there was no corroborative evidence that Rs 100 crore was paid to AAP functionaries by the so-called ‘South Group’ and that there was no “camera recording or money as such which has been exchanged”.
During the hearing on Thursday, additional solicitor general (ASG) S V Raju, who was appearing for ED, told the court that the agency was not conducting an investigation in the air but possessed concrete evidence. He said photos of currency notes produced in court were part of the money given as kickbacks and related to Kejriwal’s stay at a seven-star hotel in Goa.
“Instructions were received from one Vinod Chauhan to make payments to Chanpreet Singh and others. The pictures have been found on the phone of Chauhan. Chanpreet was speaking regularly to him on phone… Chauhan has good relations with Arvind Kejriwal,” claimed Raju.
Chauhan, accused in the case, has been alleged to be handling the proceeds of crimes connected with hawala operators and managing postings in Delhi Jal Board through Kejriwal. ED has said he was the one responsible for the transfer of Rs 25.5 crore from Delhi to Goa.
Chanpreet Singh, according to ED, was AAP’s fund manager for the Goa elections. He has been accused of collecting the proceeds of crime from Chauhan and being responsible for generation/acquisition/use of the alleged proceeds of crime, an amount of Rs 45 crore.
Citing the refusal of the Delhi CM to reveal the password of his phone, ED told the court on Thursday: “Kejriwal says my phone is sacrosanct. Mai password nahi doonga. (I will not give my password)… An adverse inference has to be drawn from the fact that Kejriwal has refused to give his password. A lot of skeletons will come out if he gives his phone. This is a ground for refusing bail under ordinary bail law, forget section 45 PMLA for the time being.”
Arguing that Kejriwal was liable to be prosecuted under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) even if he was not personally involved in any offence, Raju said: “You may not have committed the offence but you are responsible for the affairs of AAP, and if AAP is guilty of an offence, then you are guilty of it as well.”
Turning to co-accused Vijay Nair, ASG said he was unconnected with the government and had no business framing the excise policy. He alleged that Nair was used as a middleman by Kejriwal.
Referring to ED’s summons to CM, the ASG said there was willful disobedience of the summons by Kejriwal and the magistrate had taken cognisance of that and summoned him. Further, ED pointed out that a division bench of Delhi HC did not grant Kejriwal relief after he was arrested by ED.
Responding to ED’s claims, Kejriwal’s counsel Chaudhri questioned the timing of Kejriwal’s arrest. Why did you not arrest him earlier? Why March 21? What did you want from him? Is ED an independent agency or is it playing in the hands of some political masters? said Chaudhri.
