Undertrial Prisoners Have No Right To...": Arvind Kejriwal Bail Hearing

New Delhi: 

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Enforcement Directorate traded sharp barbs and hard-nosed legal arguments in equal measure Wednesday, as the Delhi High Court heard the Aam Aadmi Party boss' plea for interim relief. Mr Kejriwal was arrested last month - and has been sent to the national capital's Tihar Jail till April 15 - for his role as the "kingpin" in the alleged liquor policy scam.

During the arguments Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the ED, issued a strong rejoinder to arguments about the timing of Mr Kejriwal's arrest, declaring "criminals are supposed to be arrested and put in jail". "Under-trial prisoners have no right to say, 'we will commit a crime and we will not be arrested because elections are here'. This is completely ridiculous," Mr Raju declared.

Earlier, appearing for Mr Kejriwal, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi began his argument by claiming "sole purpose of the arrest (of the Delhi Chief Minister) is to humiliate... incapacitate" the AAP, which is seen by many as the only real challenger to the BJP for Delhi's seven Lok Sabha seats.

"Efforts are being made to break AAP," he said, arguing that the ED "does not have any evidence" and that the arrest of the sitting Chief Minister was unwarranted, particularly before an election.