Liquor policy case: Delhi court reserves verdict on CBI's plea seeking Kejriwal's custody

Court reserves order in CBI's plea seeking Kejriwal's custody

A Delhi court on June 26 reserved an order on the Central Bureau of Investigation's plea seeking five-day custody of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who was arrested by the agency in the liquor policy case earlier in the day

The order is likely to be passed later in the evening.

The CBI's arrest of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor follows a similar action by the Enforcement Directorate in the case earlier this year.  The CBI sought his custody  to question him in the case when he was produced before Special Judge Amitabh Rawata.

Addressing the court, Kejriwal said he and his party colleagues, including Manish Sisodia, were innocent. The CBI was trying to build a false narrative through the media that he blamed Sisodia for the excise policy.

The excise policy was aimed at increasing governmental revenue, reduce lines at liquor shops and ensure equitable distribution. He had only said that privatisation was Sisodia's idea, the chief minister said of his former deputy.

The CBI refuted the claim and said it had not shared any details with the media.

The CBI argued that it needed Kejriwal's custody to investigate the alleged irregularities in the framing of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy of 2021-22. Kejriwal had not been forthcoming with his answers, it said.

Kejriwal's lawyer said there was no reason to arrest the CM. The CBI could have arrested Kejriwal earlier but it waited until the CM was granted bail by the trial court to arrest him.

"They want to see that I remain in custody. Are these independent agencies or are they playing to gallery? I am saying, if this man was really guilty and deserved to be arrested, why did they not arrest him before," senior advocate Vikram Chaudhary said.

The ED case

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal withdrew his plea from the Supreme Court against a Delhi High Court order that stayed the regular bail granted to him by a trial court in an excise policy case.

Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21, which said he was the kingpin of the alleged excise policy scam that was drawn up to benefit a select group of liquor traders.

The chief minister will file a new plea to challenge the high court's June 25 order that stayed the bail granted to him by Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court.

The high court on June 21 stayed a lower court's order granting bail to Kejriwal in the Delhi excise policy case. The court said it was reserving its order for two or three days to review the case records.

As the June 21 order is not valid anymore, Kejriwal decided to file an appeal against the June 25 order, which had stayed the regular bail.

On June 20, Delhi's Rouse Avenue court gave bail to Kejriwal in a money laundering case linked to the alleged liquor policy scam.