Delhi High Court reserves judgment on Kejriwal's bail plea in CBI case

Arvind Kejriwal

The Delhi High Court on July 29 for judgment on Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's bail plea in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case relating to the excise policy scam.

During the hearing, the CBI said Kejriwal was the mastermind of the alleged excise policy scam and it had ample evidence, which it came across after the CM’s arrest, to prove its claim.

“Kejriwal is the sutradhar of the excise policy scam. Every minister has been appointed by him. He appointed his secretariat and Vijay Nair is the part of that. He is the media coordinator," agency’s DP Singh said.

The CBI had come evidence against Kejriwal after his arrest and many of the party workers who had kept mum earlier spoken out, Singh told the court, defending the agency’s move to arrest the chief minister.

The investigation into the case scam could progress only because of the arrest, which also led to the CBI to many witnesses.

Kejriwal, as the head of the cabinet, signed off on the policy, got it circulated and signed by his cabinet colleagues. Kejriwal should move the trial court for the bail rather than filing the plea directly in the high court, Singh said.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Kejriwal, again said it was “insurance arrest” to ensure Kejriwal stayed in jail even though he got bail in the case filed by the Enforcement Directorate.

There was no direct evidence to arrest Kejriwal and he was taken into custody based on hearsay, he said.

"They refer to me as sutradhar (mastermind) but they don't reveal one thing about this sutradhar. There were nine inter-ministerial committees dealing with liquor policy, these had officials from various departments. After one year, in July 2021 the policy was published," Singhvi said.

According to Singhvi, Kejriwal could not have been arrested just for signing the policy. By that logic, even the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi should be made an accused since he signed the document.

Singh objected to the statement and contended that such remarks were being made to grab headlines.

Earlier in the day, the CBI filed a chargesheet against Kejriwal in the Rouse Avenue Court. The filing of the chargesheet follows extensive investigations into the alleged misuse of the Delhi excise policy.

Kejriwal is in judicial custody. While the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Kejriwal on July 12 in the case relating to money laundering in the excise policy scam, he continues to be in custody as the CBI arrested him. The money laundering case has been filed by ED.

The CBI arrested Kejriwal, who was already in the Tihar Jail, on June 26, accusing him of irregularities in the 2021-22 excise policy, which it said was designed to benefit a certain group of liquor traders.