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ED challenges Kejriwal’s bail in liquor policy case, High Court to hear
The Delhi High Court will hear on Monday the bail granted to former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering case related to Delhi’s alleged excise policy. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a petition against the bail in 2024. The matter is now listed for hearing before Justice Manoj Jain.
Interestingly, the hearing on the ED’s petition is taking place at a time when Kejriwal has already got relief from the Supreme Court in this matter. The Supreme Court had granted him interim bail in July 2024 and referred certain questions regarding the need and justification for his arrest to a larger bench for consideration.
In this case, a legal battle has already been seen between the trial court and the High Court of Delhi regarding bail. The trial court had granted bail to Kejriwal in June 2024 on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh, but the High Court had stayed the order following a plea by the ED.
The ED petition has been under prolonged hearing.
The ED filed its petition challenging Kejriwal’s bail in 2024. After the case reached the High Court, the hearing was postponed several times. In October 2025, the court had also given the ED a ‘last and final chance’ to present its side.
Kejriwal had objected to the repeated postponement of the date in the court. His lawyers had alleged that the hearing of the case was being prolonged without any valid reason. Now ED will present its side in Monday’s hearing.
The hearing of the case is also important because along with bail, legal questions related to the need for arrest and the action of the investigating agency are also involved in it. The Supreme Court has already referred some important questions in this matter to a larger bench.
When did Kejriwal get relief from the Supreme Court?
On July 12, 2024, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Kejriwal in the money laundering case. The court had referred three questions related to the ‘necessity and necessity’ of the arrest to a larger bench. These questions were related to the powers of arrest under PMLA and the legal aspects related to its use.
Earlier, on June 20, 2024, the trial court had also granted bail to Kejriwal on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh. However, the ED challenged this order in the High Court and the High Court stayed the bail order of the trial court.
The subsequent relief from the Supreme Court gave a new turn to the legal status of the case. Despite this, the petition challenging the bail filed by ED in the High Court is still pending for hearing.
What has happened since Kejriwal’s arrest?
Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21, 2024. Subsequently, he was arrested by the CBI on June 26, 2024, in a corruption case related to the alleged excise policy. Both the investigating agencies were probing alleged irregularities in policy formulation and implementation.
The Delhi Excise Policy was withdrawn in 2022 after the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi ordered a CBI inquiry to investigate alleged irregularities and corruption in its formulation and implementation.
The CBI and ED have alleged that irregularities were committed during the change in the excise policy and some license holders were allegedly given undue benefits. On the other hand, these allegations have been challenged by the accused in the case.
Why are all eyes on Monday’s hearing?
Monday’s hearing in the Delhi High Court is important because the ED’s petition challenging the bail has been pending for a long time. The court will now hear the arguments of the investigating agency in this matter and the further legal process will be decided.
Kejriwal has already got relief from the Supreme Court in this matter, but the status of ED’s petition in the High Court remains under a separate legal process. In such a situation, the arguments of both the parties will be watched in the hearing on Monday.
Kejriwal’s arrest, bail and action by investigating agencies in the excise policy case have been a topic of discussion in Delhi politics and courts for a long time. Now the hearing in the High Court is being considered important in terms of the further legal direction of this case.
