Delhi Excise Policy / Decision on CM Kejriwal's interim bail may come today

Delhi Liquor Scam: Today is the day of Supreme Court's decision on CM Arvind Kejriwal, who is facing ED investigation in the money laundering case related to Delhi Excise Policy scam. Today the Supreme Court's decision on the interim bail of Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal is going to come. Before that on Thursday, ED has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court opposing the bail application of Kejriwal, in which the central agency has said that campaigning for elections is not a fundamental right. At the same time, Kejriwal's legal team has expressed strong objection to the ED affidavit.

ED said these things in its affidavit

ED has lodged a protest in the Supreme Court through an affidavit on the issue of interim bail of Arvind Kejriwal and has said that the right to campaign in elections is neither a fundamental right nor a constitutional right. In the affidavit, the ED has said that there are many instances where politicians contested elections while in judicial custody and some even won, but were never granted interim bail for election campaigning. The central agency said, 'No leader has been granted interim bail for election campaign, even if he is not contesting the election. Even if a contesting candidate is in custody, he is not given interim bail even for his own campaign.

‘Election campaigning is not a constitutional or legal right’

“It is relevant to note that the right to campaign for elections is neither a fundamental right, nor a constitutional, nor even a legal right,” the ED said in the affidavit. In view of the above factual and legal arguments, the request for interim bail should be rejected as it would be contrary to the established principles of law which are the basic feature of the Constitution. Granting interim bail only for political election campaigning would be against the rule of equality and would be discriminatory as the work/business/profession or activity of every citizen is equally important for him.

‘All politicians in jail can demand relief’

The ED said that it would not be possible to understand that the work of a small farmer or businessman is less important than the campaign of a political leader who admits that he is not contesting the elections. It said that if any interim relief is granted to Kejriwal on account of his being a politician to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections for his party, there is no second opinion that all the jailed politicians would demand similar relief, claiming that Will do that they also fall in this category. The ED, in its 44-page affidavit, said that a politician cannot claim any special status more than an ordinary citizen.

Kejriwal's legal team expressed objection to the affidavit

Kejriwal's legal team has objected to the affidavit filed by ED in the Supreme Court against his interim bail. The team issued a press release informing that a formal complaint in this regard has been lodged in the Supreme Court registry. Describing the ED affidavit as a blatant disregard of legal procedures, the release said the affidavit was filed without the permission of the Supreme Court and was issued at a time when the final hearing of the matter is scheduled in the apex court on Friday. Let us tell you that Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 and currently he is lodged in Tihar Jail under judicial custody.