India’s Supreme Court today refused to grant interim bail to jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a corruption case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regarding an alleged excise policy scam.
The court also sought a response from the probe agency on his plea challenging his arrest.
Senior advocate A M Singhvi appearing for Kejriwal pressed for interim bail but the court did not agree. “We are not granting any interim bail,” Justice Kant said.
Singhvi contended that Kejriwal had got interim bail even in cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) despite its stringent provisions.
The senior counsel added that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader had also been granted regular bail in the PMLA case on June 20.
Singhvi argued that when he has been granted bail even in PMLA, he should not be denied bail in the CBI case registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act which has lesser stringent provisions than PMLA.
The Supreme Court will hear the matter next on August 23.
