Excise Policy Money Laundering Case Live Updates: Delhi HC lists for October 23 Arvind Kejriwal's plea against ED summons

Supreme Court has raised an important question which has cast a shadow on the functioning of Delhi govt for the past five months: Is there any order that restrains chief minister Arvind Kejriwal from performing his duties from jail? This comes at a critical time when another bench of the apex court has concluded its hearing on his bail application related to the excise policy case and will soon deliver its verdict. If bail is granted, the question will become redundant.

The appointment of a new minister to replace Raaj Kumar Anand, the remission of sentences for eligible convicts, an increase in the dearness allowance for daily wagers, the appointment of two professional team members to the DERC, and several cases involving the transfer, posting, and disciplinary action against Group A officials are currently stalled. Many significant schemes and policies awaiting cabinet approval are also held up due to the incarceration of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

Prisoners granted special permission to set up offices inside jails include Unitech promoters Sanjay and Ajay Chandra, who in October 2017 were allowed to use videoconferencing facilities from a makeshift office within the prison to arrange a Rs 750-crore deposit for bail. Similarly, in August 2014, Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy and two directors were permitted to use a temporary office facility within Tihar Jail to negotiate the sale of three hotels abroad, aiming to raise Rs 10,000 crore for interim bail.

The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce its order on AAP convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's bail pleas and his challenge against his arrest by the CBI in the alleged liquor policy scam today. A bench of justice Surya Kant and justice Ujjal Bhuyan heard arguments from additional solicitor general S V Raju for the CBI and senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi for Kejriwal on Thursday following which the apex court had reserved its order on the pleas. Kejriwal has filed two petitions: one challenging the denial of bail and another against his arrest by the CBI in the corruption case filed by the central agency. The AAP chief was arrested by the CBI on June 26.

Citing the Supreme Court's emphasis on the "bail is the rule and jail an exception" principle in the Manish Sisodia case, Delhi High Court on Monday granted relief to jailed liquor businessman Sameer Mahendru and Aam Aadmi Party volunteer Chanpreet Singh Rayat in a money-laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam.

Granting bail to him, the high court said that prima facie, in the case of Mahendru, it could be observed that the twin test of guilt for the offence of money laundering or likely to commit any offence are weak. "In the present case as well, in the light of the observations of the apex court in Manish Sisodia and in the bail applications of the other co-accused, it is now well defined that Article 21 of the Constitution shall take precedence over the twin test (PMLA) and if the trial would take long, the accused shall be entitled to bail," Justice Neena Bansal Krishna asserted.