SC declines to take any action on Arvind Kejriwal’s “If you vote for broom, I won't have to go to jail,” remark saying it does not violate his bail terms

Today (May 16, 2024), the Supreme Court (SC) of India was hearing Arvind Kejriwal’s plea against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Delhi liquor policy scam case. The bench constituting Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta was hearing the matter today. While hearing the matter, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for ED, brought the top court’s attention to Kejriwal’s statement during the election campaign. SG Mehta said, “He says if you vote for broom (election symbol of AAP), I won't have to go to jail on June 2. How can he say this?” He added, “It's a slap on the system by the petitioner. The petitioner treats him as a special person. We treat him as any other person. Please see what he said on first day. Your lordships said he will not say about the case.” Justice Khanna said, “No, we said he will not discuss his role in the case.”

Further replying to the SG’s argument regarding Kejriwal’s remarks, Justice Khanna said, “That's his (Kejriwal's) assumption, we don't know. What we felt was justified, we said. Our order was very clear. We specifically said we are not making exception to anybody.” Therefore, the bench declined to take any action against the ED’s objection to the statement of the Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, stating that such remarks do not violate his bail terms. Earlier on May 10, 2024, the SC bench granted interim bail to the Delhi CM till June 01, 2024, to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.