In a significant setback for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi High Court has granted the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) plea to stay a trial court’s order that had granted bail to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader in the alleged liquor scam. This decision by Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain means that Kejriwal will remain in Tihar Jail for the time being.

The High Court’s stay order was issued following an appeal by the ED, which contested the bail granted by Special CBI Judge Niyay Bindu. The trial court had initially found that the ED had not provided direct evidence linking Kejriwal to the proceeds of crime in the money laundering case, and therefore, his guilt was yet to be established.

Arrested on March 21, Kejriwal was initially set to be released from Tihar Jail on June 21, a day after the trial court’s bail order. However, the High Court paused his release, granting interim stay relief to the ED.

In response to the High Court’s decision, Kejriwal has moved the Supreme Court, seeking intervention. A vacation bench of Justices Manoj Misra and SVN Bhatti has scheduled a hearing for June 26 to consider his plea. The Supreme Court bench indicated it would await the High Court’s detailed pronouncement on the matter.

The controversy stems from the scrapping of Delhi’s excise policy in 2022, following an order by the Delhi lieutenant governor for a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption in the policy’s formulation and execution. Both the ED and the CBI allege that irregularities were committed during the modification of the policy, with undue favours extended to certain licence holders.