"Kejriwal hasn't been acquitted...": Kiren Rijiju on SC granting bail to Delhi CM

New Delhi [India], July 12 : Hours after the Supreme Court granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi Excise Policy case, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday, stated that the Aam Aadmi Party national convenor has not yet been acquitted and remains in judicial custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
He further said that the apex court had neither given a clean chit to Kejriwal nor had it termed his arrest as "illegal."
Speaking to ANI, Rijiju said, "The Supreme Court has granted the bail. However, he (Arvind Kejriwal) hasn't been acquitted. The Supreme Court has not declared the arrest as illegal. It has just granted the bail as the case has been referred to the larger bench."
"I want to clarify the misinformation being spread about the Supreme Court's interim bail order regarding Arvind Kejriwal. Supreme Court has not given a clean chit to Arvind Kejriwal nor the arrest has been termed illegal...The case against Kejriwal will proceed, and he will have to face the consequences," he added.
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister also emphasised that the court has left the decision to resign as CM on Kejriwal's conscience.
"The Supreme Court has also made an important observation on morality, stating that a Chief Minister should resign when arrested, but has left the decision to Kejriwal's conscience. The prosecution will continue to pursue the case against Kejriwal, which is of a serious nature," Rijiju said.
The Supreme Court today granted interim bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in the case in connection with the now-scrapped excise policy, registered by the ED.
The court while granting interim bail to Kejriwal in the ED case observed that the Delhi Chief Minister has suffered incarceration of 90 days and it's conscious that he is an elected leader. The top court had reserved the verdict on Kejriwal's plea on May 17.
However, the Delhi CM will continue to remain behind bars as he was also arrested by the CBI.
The Rouse Avenue Court on Friday extended the judicial custody of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the CBI case in connection with the excise policy.
Aam Aadmi Party hailed the Supreme Court decision to grant interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on his plea challenging arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in the alleged liquor scam case and slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party for "hatching a conspiracy" against the AAP.
"BJP knew that he (Arvind Kejriwal) has been granted bail by the Rouse Avenue Court, they know that he will get bail by the Supreme Court too. That is why, they hatched another conspiracy and the day on which the bail hearing was scheduled to come up before the Supreme Court, they made CBI arrest Arvind Kejriwal a day before that. Why was he arrested by the CBI? Because if he received bail in the ED case, he would come out of jail and work for the people of Delhi 10 times faster," Atishi said.
Terming the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as a "black law", Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the onus to provide evidence now rests with the CBI.
"PMLA is a black law. The provisions for bail under this are so difficult that it is almost impossible to get bail... First, the lower court granted him bail and observed that "ED is acting with bias"... So, today's bail by the Supreme Court is a huge thing. Centre had anticipated that Supreme Court would grant him bail in the ED matter. So, to ensure that he continues to be in jail even after bail, the CBI arrested him... The burden of proof lies on the CBI. So, I don't think there will be much issue. It's just a matter of time, Arvind Kejriwal will come out of jail," Bharadwaj told ANI.
Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in connection with a money laundering probe relating to alleged irregularities in the now-cancelled Delhi excise policy 2021-22.