The Delhi High Court on Tuesday deferred till May 8 the hearing on the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) petition challenging the bail granted to former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy-linked money laundering case.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma also directed that the trial court records be summoned in the meantime.
During the brief hearing, Kejriwal’s counsel requested the court to take up the matter later in the day as the senior advocate representing him was unavailable. However, the judge declined to grant a passover, noting it was already 3 pm, and fixed May 8 as the next date.
Kejriwal, who is also the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was granted bail by a trial court on June 20, 2024, on a personal bond of ₹1 lakh. However, the High Court later stayed the bail on ED’s urgent plea.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had on July 12, 2024, granted interim bail to Kejriwal, while referring three key legal questions concerning the “necessity of arrest” under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to a larger bench.
Kejriwal was first arrested by the ED on March 21, 2024, in connection with the money laundering aspect of the alleged excise scam. The CBI arrested him separately on June 26 in the related corruption case.
The excise policy, introduced by the Delhi government in 2021, was scrapped in 2022 following allegations of corruption and irregularities. The CBI initiated a probe on the directions of the Delhi Lieutenant Governor. Both the ED and CBI have alleged that changes made in the policy favoured certain liquor licence holders, resulting in undue financial gains and illegal kickbacks.
The trial court’s bail order, which the ED has sought to overturn, had marked a temporary reprieve for Kejriwal in a case that continues to cast a shadow over the AAP government.
The next hearing in the High Court is scheduled for May 8, 2026.
