'He has to go back to jail, didn't make any exception': SC dismisses ED's plea against Kejriwal's poll speeches
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the Enforcement Directorate's plea for action against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over his campaign speeches, media reports said.
The ED argued that Kejriwal's claim that he would "not have to go back to jail" if people voted for the INDIA bloc was a "slap on the face of the system," reported India Today.
The ED has objected to Kejriwal's statement that he would return from Tihar Jail on June 5 if the INDIA bloc came to power after the Lok Sabha election results on June 4.
According to the report, in response, Justice Sanjiv Khanna said, "We welcome criticism of the verdict. We will not go into that. Our order is clear when he (Kejriwal) has to surrender. It is the order of the apex court and the rule of law shall be governed by this. We did not make an exception for anybody."
Arvind Kejriwal was arrested in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court last week to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections.
The AAP chief must surrender and return to jail on June 2.
The Supreme Court was hearing a plea from the Delhi Chief Minister challenging his arrest by the ED.
During his campaign rallies in Delhi and Haryana, Kejriwal played on people’s emotions by recounting his arrest just before the Lok Sabha polls and describing how he was denied insulin doses for his diabetes while in Tihar Jail, the report added.
“I have to go back to jail on June 2. I will be watching the results on June 4 from the jail. If you work hard and make the INDIA bloc win, I will come back on June 5," Kejriwal has been saying at his rallies, it said.
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