NEW DELHI: India’s top court gave temporary bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a graft case on Friday, allowing him to campaign in the ongoing general elections, boosting the opposition alliance of which he is a key leader.
The court said the temporary bail would last until June 1, the last day of the seven-phase vote, and Kejriwal would have to surrender on June 2.
The poll has been marred by charges that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is using investigating agencies to hurt rivals, accusations the government denies.
The Enforcement Directorate, India’s financial crime-fighting agency, arrested Kejriwal — a staunch critic of Modi and a key opposition leader — on March 21 in connection with corruption allegations related to the capital territory’s liquor policy.
Kejriwal’s government and his Aam Aadmi Party have denied the corruption allegations. Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party say that the investigating agencies are only doing their job and the government is not influencing them.
Kejriwal has been in pre-trial detention since April 1, and his wife Sunita has stepped in to campaign for his decade-old party in his absence.
India began voting on April 19 and elections to more than half the total 543 seats were completed with the third phase on May 7. The national capital territory will vote on May 25.
Voting concludes on June 1 and counting is set for June 4.
The Supreme Court, while hearing an appeal against Kejriwal’s arrest last week, said that it “may” consider granting “interim bail” or temporary bail to the high-profile leader “because of the elections” as the appeal against his arrest could take a while to conclude.
Kejriwal argued that he was arrested just before the vote to stop him from campaigning against Modi, who opinion polls suggest will win a comfortable majority and secure a rare third straight term.
His lawyer said Kejriwal is a serving chief minister, not a “habitual offender.”
ED lawyers argued that giving bail to a politician just to campaign will send a wrong message that there are different standards for them and other citizens. Kejriwal had to be arrested as he refused nine ED summons over six months to appear for questioning, they added.
The INDIA alliance of more than two dozen opposition parties has called the action against Kejriwal and other opposition leaders politically motivated to deny them a level playing field in the polls, accusations Modi and BJP reject.
Kejriwal’s arrest had drawn international attention, with Germany and the United States calling for a “fair” and “impartial” trial.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the Gulf states are in final stages of discussions regarding a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two sides, Pakistani state media reported on Friday.
Pakistan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) signed a “preliminary” FTA in September last year, with the country’s commerce ministry calling it a “milestone in both sides’ economic cooperation.” The GCC also said the agreement represented “an important turning point in cooperation.”
In 2022, both sides held technical-level talks to examine the possibility of an FTA that could help Pakistan boost exports to the six-nation bloc, which includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait.
Presiding over a meeting on the trade sector, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked the authorities to formulate trade policies with the core objective of facilitating the country’s business sector, the state-run APP news agency reported.
“In the meeting, the prime minister was told that the discussion on the Free Trade Agreement between Pakistan and the Gulf states was in the final stage and transit trade agreements with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan had already been materialized,” the report read.
During a recent Pakistan-Saudi Business Conference, according to the report, around 450 business-to-business meetings were held and the volume of e-commerce trade was witnessing a constant increase, with the enlisting of over 3,000 firms on the Pakistan Trade Portal.
Pakistan has welcomed numerous foreign officials and business delegations in recent weeks, encouraging local partnerships and asking them to explore investment opportunities across various economic sectors.
A Saudi business delegation, consisting of senior representatives from nearly 35 companies, recently concluded its visit to Pakistan, during which the delegates held several business-to-business meetings. Additionally, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with a group of Japanese industrialists, urging them to invest in Pakistan’s nascent electric car industry.
The country is also expecting the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman later this month, hoping it would bring several billion dollars in investment.
During the meeting on the trade sector, the prime minister called for steps to promote exports of non-traditional goods and instructed authorities for immediate payment of certified duty drawbacks to exporters, according to the APP report.
He instructed officials to ensure consultation with them during the policy-making and implement the deletion policy to uplift the auto sector.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz directed the relevant ministry to devise a comprehensive strategy to scrutinize the performance of trade and investment officers posted in Pakistan’s missions abroad by rewarding the good performers and removing the incompetent ones,” the report read further.
The development comes as Pakistan seeks a fresh bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to stabilize its dwindling economy after completing its $3 billion IMF bailout deal that helped avert a default last year.
The South Asian country currently has Free Trade Agreements with China, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, but it still needs to increase exports to other trade destinations.