Amid ‘special treatment’ rumours, the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday made clear that it has not made any exception in granting bail to Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. The apex court also welcomed the "critical analysis of the judgment".
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta made the statements while refusing to consider claims and counterclaims by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Kejriwal on statements related to the grant of interim bail to AAP chief.
"We have not made any exception for anybody. We said in our order what we felt was justified," the bench said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for ED, objected to Kejriwal's speeches in poll rallies that if voted back to power he would not be going back to prison on June 2.
"It is his assumption, we cannot say anything," the bench said.
The order of the SC is very clear on the date of his surrender and the rule of law shall be governed by this order, added the bench.
The SC had granted interim bail to Kejriwal till June 1 in the wake of the Lok Sabha elections. He has been asked to surrender on June 2.
Mehta also alleged that Kejriwal violated the bail condition by his remarks. "What is he trying to imply? It is like a slap on the institution," the Solicitor General said.
The bench said that it has not barred Kejriwal from speaking about the case.
On Wednesday, Home Minister Amit Shah criticised the SC order granting bail saying that it was not a "routine or normal judgment". "It is a clear contempt of the Supreme Court," said Shah in an interview with ANI.
"The SC has the right to interpret the law. I believe this was not a normal or routine judgment," he added. Shah also alleged that many people in the country believe that "special treatment" was given in Kejriwal's case.
Kejriwal was arrested by the ED in connection with the money laundering case related to the Delhi Excise Policy case on March 21.
