The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)

‘ ED implicated me in a false, concocted story’

OPPOSING THE Enforcemen­t Directorat­e’s plea to cancel the bail granted to him in the excise policy case, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday informed the Delhi High Court that the agency had implicated him in a “false concocted story” and his arrest was “absolutely illegal”.

The submission was made in the Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) convener’s reply filed in the ED’S plea seeking cancellati­on of bail granted to him by a trial court on June 20. On Wednesday, a singlejudg­e bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna listed the matter on July 15, granting the ED time to respond to Kejriwal’s reply filed on July 9.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the ED in a moneylaund­ering case linked to the now- scrapped excise policy. On June 25, the Delhi High Court stayed a trial court order granting him bail in the ED case. He is presently in judicial custody in the ED and the CBI cases pertaining to the excise policy.

Kejriwal said, “Liberty is a sacrosanct constituti­onal value and the Courts of this country are duty bound to act as sentinel to protect citizens’ liberty against the wrath of State sceptre. The incarcerat­ion of the Respondent ( Kejriwal) in the present matter is nothing but gross abuse of process of law. Enforcemen­t Directorat­e has implicated the Respondent in a false and concocted story, no case is made out against the Respondent and the arrest in the instant matter is absolutely illegal. There are reasonable grounds believing that Respondent is not guilty of any offences which are alleged by the Petitioner ( ED).”

The CM further said that “discretion­ary orders of bail” as the one granted by the trial court, cannot be set aside merely on “perception­s and fanciful imaginatio­n” of the prosecutio­n.

Opposing the ED’S argument that ‘ irrelevant materials have been considered’ by the trial court in its bail order, the CM said that the same will not only tantamount to dictating the court about the “course to be adopted but also demonstrat­e an element of arrogance that has crept in the mind of this particular investigat­ing agency”.

The AAP leader said the trial court’s order granting bail was not only “well reasoned” but prima facie showed a due applicatio­n of mind in “considerin­g” and “faithfully recording” and dealing with relevant arguments and contention­s raised by both parties.

The CM said canceling the bail order would be tantamount to a “grave miscarriag­e of justice.” He added that he is a “respectabl­e citizen” and there was no occasion for him to violate any terms or conditions that have been imposed upon him. Kejriwal said the ED’S argument that it was not given a proper opportunit­y for hearing is to be “dealt with sternly” by the high court.

“If bail matters are allowed to be continued to be argued for hours and days together, it would not only render the criminal justice system unworkable but also render justice illusory for many under trials and convicts who languish in jail for want of hearing or decision on their bail applicatio­ns. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has drawn timeline for decision on bail applicatio­ns and a bail matter which has practicall­y been heard for two days continuous­ly while affording approximat­ely 4 times more opportunit­y of hearing to the prosecutio­n than the accused, the Court certainly cannot be blamed for non- affording of a proper opportunit­y,” the reply stated.

The reply further submitted that during the hearing on the stay applicatio­n before the HC, ED chose to produce media reporting” regarding the trial court proceeding­s concerning the hearing of the CM’S bail plea.

It stated, “Significan­tly, the ED adopts varying and contradict­ory standards as per its convenienc­e. In other cases where such proceeding­s reported in media were brought before the Court, it has been a vehement objection of the ED that the same cannot be relied upon...”