SC grants Kejriwal interim bail till June 1 for campaigning in LS polls
New Delhi (PTI): In a major relief to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Supreme Court on Friday granted him interim bail till June 1 to campaign in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said Kejriwal, arrested in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, will have to surrender and go back to jail on June 2.
The bench refused the request of senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, that the interim bail be granted till June 5.
June 1 is the last day of the seven-phase elections. The votes will be counted on June 4.
The court said reasons for granting Kejriwal interim bail will follow.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, opposed the granting of interim bail to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief on grounds of poll campaigning saying no such precedents are available.
Observing that granting Kejriwal interim bail for 21 days will not make much of a difference, the bench said the ED's Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was registered in August 2022 while the chief minister was arrested on March 21 this year.
"He (Kejriwal) was out there for one-and-a-half-years. He could have been arrested earlier or after but nothing such thing happened," the bench told ED.
The law officers urged the court to impose bail conditions, including that Kejriwal will not say anything regarding the excise policy case.
The bench said the conditions will be similar to those imposed on AAP leader Sanjay Singh, who was given bail last month in connection with the case.
According to lawyer Shadan Farasat, who appeared for Kejriwal, the court pronounced a very short oral order.
"We have not yet seen the written order. So we don't know the exact contents of the written order. The court said they are releasing Kejriwal on an interim release/bail until June 2, and there are no conditions on what he can say and what he cannot say during the campaigning process and while he is out in these 20-22 days,” he said.
“We are hoping that this order is uploaded today, and then we will update appropriate procedure for his release," Farasat added.
The apex court is hearing Kejriwal's plea challenging the Delhi High Court’s verdict last month upholding his arrest in the case.
The bench said arguments on Kejriwal's plea against the arrest will continue next week and it will try to pronounce the judgement on the petition before the summer vacations starting May 20.
The matter relates to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.
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Ordinance issued to increase number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38
New Delhi (PTI): The government has promulgated an ordinance to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from the present 34 judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.
The law ministry notified the ordinance on Saturday, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court.
So far, the sanctioned strength of the top court was 34, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Now, the number of judges has been increased by four, taking the sanctioned strength to 38.
The top court will now have 37 judges, other than the CJI.
With the apex court having two vacancies at present, and the ordinance coming into force immediately, the Supreme Court Collegium will now have to recommend six names for appointment as judges in the top court.
A bill will be brought in the Monsoon Session of Parliament to convert the ordinance – an executive order – into a law passed by Parliament.
The Union Cabinet had cleared a draft bill on May 5 to increase the number of apex court judges.
The strength of the Supreme Court was last increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the CJI) in 2019.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, as originally enacted in 1956, put the maximum number of judges (excluding the CJI) at 10.
This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges), Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by another amendment to the law.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, augmented the strength of judges from 17 to 25, excluding the CJI.
A fresh amendment in 2009 further increased the strength from 25 to 30.
Article 124(3) of the Constitution lists the qualifications required to become a Supreme Court judge.
An Indian citizen who has either served as a high court judge for at least five years, or as an advocate for 10 years, or is a distinguished jurist, can be appointed to the top court.
The strength of the Supreme Court is increased based on the recommendations of the CJI, who writes to the Union law minister. After consulting the finance ministry, the Department of Justice under the law ministry moves the Cabinet with a draft bill.
