NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday said it will approach the Supreme Court challenging the High Court order of staying the bail granted to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in excise policy liquor “scam”.
“We disagree with the Delhi High Court order. We will challenge it in the Supreme Court,” the party said.
“It (trial court) has clearly stated that there is no evidence linking Kejriwal to this so-called liquor scam. The High Court ordered the stay without even looking at the trial court order. We do not agree with this verdict; our legal team is looking into this and will take an advisable step,” AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said.
The trial court had granted bail to Kejriwal on June 20 in the money laundering case stemming from the alleged Delhi excise policy scam and ordered his release on a personal bond of ` 1 lakh.
The high court stayed the trial court order on Tuesday. A vacation bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain said the trial court failed to appreciate the material placed before it by the Enforcement Directorate and did not apply its mind while deciding the AAP leader’s bail plea. The judge also said the trial court ought to have given adequate opportunity to the agency to argue its case.
“A high court bench stayed the order of the lower court without even the order getting uploaded. I did not have any hope from the high court...I think the high court bench was prejudiced. We will approach the higher court. Our legal team will decide the strategy and the time when we approach the higher court,” Delhi cabinet minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said.
After the trial court ordered bail, the high court stayed the order saying, “Till the pronouncement of this order, the operation of the impugned order (of the trial court) shall remain stayed.”
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said this was the first incident in the history of Indian judiciary when an order was stayed without receiving a copy of trial court order.
“The entire BJP started abusing the trial court judge who granted bail to Arvind Kejriwal. ED took a stay without presenting the lower court’s order in the High Court...the Supreme Court has said that it is wrong to hear the matter without an order,” Singh said.
Kejriwal is guilty: BJP
Welcoming the High Court’s decision to stay the bail granted to Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor scam case, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva on Tuesday alleged that the chief minister is the primary accused in the scam, and his involvement has also been established. “As the investigation progresses, it is becoming clear what role the leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party played in the liquor scam,” `he alleged.