’ED not acting without bias’: What trial court judge said in Arvind Kejriwal’s bail order

Granting bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a liquor policy case, a Delhi court Special Judge Niyay Bindu held that prima facie his guilt was yet to be established.

In the bail order made available on Friday, the judge quoted Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the US, to say "It is better that 100 guilty persons should escape than an innocent person should suffer".

The court also noted that the complete truth shall be established on the basis of the incriminating material, if available on record which the investigating agency is under an obligation to procure in a legal manner by following the procedural.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court has stayed the bail on an appeal by the ED.

Here's what Delhi court said in the bail order

1) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) failed to furnish direct evidence linking Arvind Kejriwal to the proceeds of crime.

2) It may be possible that some persons known to the applicant are having involvement in an offence....but the ED has failed to give any direct evidence against the applicant in respect of the proceeds of the crime.

3) It is also noticeable that the ED is silent about the facts as to how the proceeds of crime have been utilized in Assembly Elections in Goa by AAP as, admittedly, after about two years, the bigger portion of the alleged amount remains to be traced out

4) The judge said the ED had failed to clarify as to how much time it required to trace the complete money trail.

5) The maxim of law that every person must be presumed innocent until proven guilty seems to be not applicable in the given case in respect of the present accused, she said.

6) The judge quoted Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the US, to say "It is better that 100 guilty persons should escape than an innocent person should suffer".

“This principle imposes a duty upon the court not only to prevent guilty individuals from escaping justice but also to ensure that no innocent should be punished.”

7) There have been thousands of cases where the accused underwent a long-lasting trial and agony resulting from the same till the date they were acquitted by the court for being innocent.

"Unfortunately, the mental and physical agony of such a person cannot be compensated in any manner whatsoever," she said.

8) If an accused undergoes the atrocities of the system till his innocence is discovered, he would never be able to conceive that justice has actually been done to him.

9) The probe agency has failed to answer this objection of the applicant.

10) Investigation is an art and sometimes one accused is given a lollypop of bail and pardon and induced with some assurance to make them tell the story behind the offence.

"If it is so, then any person can be implicated and kept behind the bars by artistically procuring the material against him after artistically avoiding/ withdrawing exculpatory material from the record. This very scenario constrains the court to draw an inference against the investigating agency that it is not acting without bias," PTI reported quoting the judge..

On Thursday, releasing Kejriwal on a personal bond of ₹1 lakh, the judge, however, imposed certain conditions on the AAP leader before granting him the relief, including that he would not try to hamper the investigation or influence the witnesses.

– with inputs from PTI