Indian Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the corruption case lodged against him by the CBI in connection with the alleged excise policy scam case.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan was of the view that “completion of trial is unlikely to occur in the immediate future”.
The bench directed that he be released on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 10 lakh and two sureties of similar amount. It also imposed a condition that he should not make public comments on the merits of the CBI case, according to Indian Express News.
While Justice Surya Kant said Kejriwal’s arrest by CBI does not suffer from any procedural infirmity, Justice Bhuyan, in a separate judgment, raised questions on the necessity and timing of the arrest.
Justice Bhuyan said the arrest raises more questions than it seeks to answer.
He said it is evident that the CBI did not feel the need and necessity to arrest Kejriwal for over 22 months, and it was only after the trial court granted him regular bail in the case registered by the Enforcement Directorate that the CBI activated its machinery and took him into custody. “Such action on the part of the CBI raises a serious question mark on the timing of the arrest, rather on the arrest itself.”
Justice Bhiyan said, “In these circumstances, a view may be taken that such an arrest by the CBI was perhaps only to frustrate the bail granted to the appellant in the ED case.”
He said that the CBI cannot justify the arrest and continue detention citing an evasive reply. An accused has the right to remain silent and cannot be compelled to make inculpatory statements against himself, Justice Bhuyan said, adding that no adverse inference can be drawn from the silence of the accused.
The judge said that deprivation of liberty, even for a single day, is “one day too many”.
Justice Bhuyan said he is of the “unhesitant view that the belated arrest of the appellant by the CBI is unjustified. And the continued incarceration of the appellant in the CBI case that followed such arrest has become untenable.”
“Not so long ago, this court had castigated the CBI, comparing it to a caged parrot. It is imperative that CBI dispel the notion of it being a caged parrot.
Rather, the perception should be that of an uncaged parrot,” Justice Bhuyan.
TF
