The Supreme Court on Friday reserved its decision on a petition challenging the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal under the excise policy by the ED. The bench of Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta allowed Kejriwal the liberty to approach the lower court for bail.
The apex court has also asked the Enforcement Directorate to collate the necessary files, stating, "We wish to peruse the witness statements recorded before the decision to deny bail to Manish Sisodia and prior to Arvind Kejriwal's arrest."
The court asked both parties to submit written arguments within a week. During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju informed the bench about emerging evidence related to hawala transactions and how WhatsApp chats are obtained in such transactions. The bench queried whether these were cited as reasons to believe in the written record for the arrest. Responding, ASG stated, "We have not disclosed the reasons to believe."
The bench pressed on, "How will you not provide reasons to believe? How will they challenge those reasons?"
ASG Raju suggested that supplying the accused with the content prior to arrest could hinder the investigation. Justice Khanna observed, "As investigators, they should not arrest unless there is ample material to prove guilt."
ASG replied, "There is a distinction between criminal law at the stage of release and general administrative law; the court cannot look at material beyond what is presented by the prosecution."
He further added that, "If this petition is considered, it will open a Pandora's box. Each time, someone will come up with such a petition. The magistrate is not required to read thousands of pages and set fire at midnight."
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi retorted that there are no grounds for arrest as ED officials relied solely on one statement and disregarded others. Singhvi argued, "There is no material basis for arrest. More than 1.5 years of investigation yielded no action against Kejriwal. The evidence available to the ED in July-August 2023 did not warrant arrest."
Singhvi also referenced the statement of Sarath Reddy, who turned from an accused to a government witness.
