Happy to see Kejriwal got interim bail: CM Mamata Banerjee

NEW DELHI: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed happiness after the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till June 1 in the excise policy case.

In a post on X, CM Mamata said, "I am very happy to see that Shri Arvind Kejriwal @ArvindKejriwal has got interim bail. It will be very helpful in the context of the current elections".

Aaditya Thackeray in a post on X, said more power to Kejriwal.

"@ArvindKejriwal ji getting justice and relief against the dictatorial regime in the country is a huge sign of winds of change. He has been speaking the truth and that is what the bjp dislikes. More power to him and the INDIA alliance for Bharat. We will protect our Constitution and democracy!".

Delhi Minister and AAP leader Atishi said, "It is not just Arvind Kejriwal who has got interim bail but by Supreme Court's this decision truth has triumphed, this is a win of the Democracy & Constitution...The SC has played a major role in protecting Democracy..."

Aam Admi Party National Convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal received a big relief from the Supreme Court, which on Friday granted him interim bail till June 1 in the excise policy case.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Dutta granted the Delhi Chief Minister interim bail in the money laundering case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.

The bench on Wednesday told Enforcement Directorate counsel Additional Solicitor General SV Raju that it may pass the order on interim relief to Kejriwal today.

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in connection with a money laundering probe relating to alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22.

On Tuesday, the bench had hinted at granting interim bail to Kejriwal to enable him to campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, it had also said that if interim bail were granted, Kejriwal would not be allowed to discharge any official duties as Chief Minister.

The Enforcement Directorate had opposed his bail in the top court, which was hearing arguments on interim bail for Kejriwal. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, also representing ED, told the bench at an earlier hearing that there can't be any deviation only because Kejriwal is Chief Minister and asked if the Supreme Court is carving out exceptions for politicians.