International Desk

The Indian Supreme Court's decision to grant interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who faced arrest in a case of alleged money laundering, appears to be primarily aimed at ensuring a level-playing field during the ongoing parliamentary elections.

Kejriwal was arrested by anti-money laundering agency Enforcement Directorate on 21 March, five days after the election schedule was announced and almost a month before the first vote was cast in the first phase of seven-phased polling on 19 April.

The opposition cried foul over the timing of his arrest even though Congress not so long had demanded action by anti-corruption agencies against Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues. Ruling BJP, on the other hand, maintained that the law was taking its own course in the case against Kejriwal lodged in August 2022.

In giving the interim bail, the top court did point to the time lag between the filing of the case against the chief minister and his arrest and in the process disapproved of it. That appears to be one of the grounds for the temporary relief granted to Kejriwal. The other key reason is, of course, the need for a level-playing field for election campaigns as the apex court pointed out that the election is the lifeline of democracy. Kejriwal is no doubt a star campaigner of his Aam Aadmi Party which rules Delhi and Punjab.

At the same time, the court made it clear that Kejriwal’s interim bail is no commentary on the case of alleged graft case against him and that it is not regular bail. In fact, the court divided its approach into two parts to the question of interim bail: (1) interim relief so that he can campaign in the poll and (2) the main case on which the hearing will be held after Kejriwal’s bail period is over on June 1. Clearly, for now, the top court has given democracy and level-playing field priority over other issues. The absence of a key figure in the opposition weighed heavily on the apex court’s mind. This is despite ED’s contention that interim bail would set a precedent and tantamount to favourable treatment to politicians when all are equal before the law.

There can always be a question if Kejriwal forced ED to arrest him. It is a fact that Kejriwal did not respond to repeated summonses by ED to appear before it for questioning by claiming those summonses as “vendetta.” Politician Kejrwail may easily talk about “vendetta,” like all opposition politicians facing anti-corruption probes routinely do, but does it show chief minister Kejriwal in a good light not to cooperate with ED?

It has been suggested by some analysts that Kejriwal’s arrest could turn out to be as crucial a turn in the Indian political landscape as his release from more than 50 days in prison. How will his taking part in the electioneering play out in the next four phases of voting in the elections when the people of Delhi and Punjab come out to vote?

Will Kejriwal’s imprisonment arouse a sympathy wave and help AAP which has left no stone unturned to do so? AAP has been trying to play a “victim” card, like any other opposition politician either in jail or facing probe into corruption charges against them. This became clear from the rousing reception Kejriwal got from his party activists on his return home from jail.

There is little doubt that Kejriwal’s arrest and incarceration and almost daily media coverage have given him a much larger image than a chief minister of India usually gets. Can he capitalize on it? In the last five-six years, Kejriwal had spearheaded his party’s efforts to expand the base of his party beyond Delhi and Punjab but failed miserably. Will he succeed this time? It is possible that an imprisoned Kejriwal will be a more potent force than outside given that people at times empathize with those perceived to be at the receiving end.