oppn parties Interim Bail For Kejriwal: Huge Boost For The Opposition

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  • The home ministry has notified 50% constable-level jobs in BSF for direct recruitment for ex-Agniveers
  • Supreme Court said that if an accused or even a convict obtains a NOC from the concerned court with the rider that permission would be needed to go abroad, the government cannot obstruct renewal of their passport
  • Supreme Court said that criminal record and gravity of offence play a big part in bail decisions while quashing the bail of 5 habitual offenders
  • PM Modi visits Bengal, fails to holds a rally in Matua heartland of Nadia after dense fog prevents landing of his helicopter but addresses the crowd virtually from Kolkata aiprort
  • Government firm on sim-linking for web access to messaging apps, but may increase the auto logout time from 6 hours to 12-18 hours
  • Mizoram-New Delhi Rajdhani Express hits an elephant herd in Assam, killing seven elephants including four calves
  • Indian women take on Sri Lanka is the first match of the T20 series at Visakhapatnam today
  • U19 Asia Cup: India take on Pakistan today for the crown
  • In a surprisng move, the selectors dropped Shubman Gill from the T20 World Cup squad and made Axar Patel the vice-captain. Jitesh Sharma was also dropped to make way for Ishan Kishan as he was performing well and Rinku Singh earned a spot for his finishing abilities
  • Opposition parties, chiefly the Congress and TMC, say that changing the name of the rural employment guarantee scheme is an insult to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi
  • Commerce secreatary Rajesh Agarwal said that the latest data shows that exporters are diversifying
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that if India were a 'dead economy' as claimed by opposition parties, India's rating would not have been upgraded
  • The Insurance Bill, to be tabled in Parliament, will give more teeth to the regulator and allow 100% FDI
  • Nitin Nabin took charge as the national working president of the BJP
  • Division in opposition ranks as J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah distances the INDIA bloc from vote chori and SIR pitch of the Congress
U19 World Cup - Pakistan thrash India by 192 runs ////// Shubman Gill dropped from T20 World Cup squad, Axar Patel replaces him as vice-captain
oppn parties
Interim Bail For Kejriwal: Huge Boost For The Opposition

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2024-05-10 14:06:50

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

In a huge relief for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ahead of the remaining phases of the Lok Sabha elections, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to party chief Arvind Kejriwal who was arrested by the Enforcement Department (ED) on March 21 in the liquor excise scam case after he ignored multiple summons from the agency to appear before it for questioning. The apex court rejected his appeal to extend the bail till the counting of votes for the elections was over on June 4 and asked him to surrender to jail authorities on June 2, after the last round of voting. The court has also directed him not to visit the office of the Delhi chief minister.

ED had argued that campaigning for elections was not a fundamental right and Kejriwal should not be given bail for that purpose. But the court thought otherwise. Saying that Kejriwal does not have criminal antecedents and is not a threat to society, the court said that 21 days would not make a difference and set him free, with conditions, till June 1. This comes as a boost for the campaign of AAP and the opposition alliance as Kejriwal is a star campaigner and draws huge crowd wherever he goes. He is also a fierce critic of PM Modi and the BJP and will now be doubly fired up after his stint in jail.

The Tihar jail authorities completed the formalities in quick time and Kejriwal walked free on Friday evening itself. He was greeted by enthusiastic party supporters and an army of media persons. Although AAP leader and Delhi mayor Shelly Oberoi said "truth has won", the case against Kejriwal will proceed unhindered and he has only been granted bail for the elections. During the hearings, the Supreme Court had pointedly asked the ED about the urgency to arrest him before the elections, giving a hint that it might grant him interim bail. Kejriwal will hold a press conference at AAP headquarters in Delhi at 1pm on Saturday.