Will Arvind Kejriwal win ‘snake & ladder game’?

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SC reserves order on Arvind Kejriwal bail plea

By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, September 5: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved verdict on the bail plea of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The apex court is likely to pronounce the verdict next week.

While granting bail to former deputy Delhi Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the Supreme Court had observed ‘snake & ladder’ game in the context of the accused asked to approach trial courts. Sisodia is an accused in the alleged Delhi Excise Scam.

Kejriwal’s counsel and senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued the pleas before the Supreme Court. Multiple law portals quoted, Singhvi saying that prosecutors are seeking to play the ‘snakes and ladders game’.

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Singhvi was borrowing the phrase for the Supreme Court order which granted bail to Sisodia. The Supreme Court didn’t favourably respond to the lawyers of the investigative agency demanding that Kejriwal should go to the trial court.

The bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjawal Bhuyan heard the arguments on Thursday.

Kejriwal has challenged legality of his arrest by the CBI in the alleged Delhi Excise scam. In another plea, Kejriwal has appealed for bail.

Singhvi stressed that Kejriwal had already spent three months in the jail. The apex court has recently observed that bail is norm.

Several of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders have already come out of jails in the recent months. Former communication in-charge of the AAP, Vijay Nair, has also come out after spending 23 months in a jail.

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Sisodia also spent 17 months in jail before getting the bail from the Supreme Court. The Rajya Sabha MP of the AAP, Sanjay Singh, had spent six months in the jail. He too is an accused in the excise scam.

The Bharath Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha had spent over six months in jail before getting the bail. She is also an accused in the Delhi Excise scam.

Kejriwal was quick to get the bail in the excise scam in the case filed by the Enforcement Directorate. But the CBI arrested him soon after to end his freedom.

The AAP leaders are confident that Kejriwal will walk out of the jail soon enough to campaign in the Haryana Assembly elections. Sisodia has said that Kejriwal will finalise the seat adjustment with the Congress.

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Kejriwal has challenged his arrest by the CBI under section 41 of the CrPC. This section allows the police to arrest an accused without a warrant.

Lawyers of the CBI argued that Kejriwal should go to the trial court to challenge his arrest under Section 41 of the CrPC. Singhvi argued that the trial court had already rejected his arguments against the CrPC 41 arrest of Kejriwal in another matter.

Singhvi said that he could not be forced upon a “snakes and ladders” game by going back to the trial court again. If Kejriwal walks out of jail, then the AAP will almost get back its top leadership in action.

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