A Delhi court on Friday extended the judicial custody of Arvind Kejriwal till July 25 in a CBI case related to a money laundering case linked to the excise policy case. The Rouse Avenue court also supplied a copy of the supplementary charge sheet filed against CM Kejriwal to his counsel Pankaj Gupta. The Aam Aadmi Party chief was produced through video conferencing from Tihar Jail. The court has already taken cognizance of the charge filed against Kejriwal and also directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to provide a copy of the charge sheet to Gupta who appeared for AAP.
Earlier this month, the CBI informed the court that only the probe regarding Kejriwal in the corruption case linked to the matter. The central agency had said new facts had emerged after June and that they would update the apex court.
SC grants interim bail to Kejriwal in ED case
On Friday (July 12), the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case lodged by the ED in the alleged excise policy scam but he will remain in jail as the CBI had later arrested him in a related matter. The top court said it is up to Kejriwal to decide if he should continue as Chief Minister. "We are conscious of the fact that Arvind Kejriwal is an elected leader," a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said while also noting that Kejriwal has suffered incarceration for over 90 days.
It also referred the questions pertaining to the legality of his arrest in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case to a larger bench. The court said since the matter is concerned with the right to life and the issue of arrest has been referred to a larger bench, Kejriwal be released on interim bail. AAP leaders claimed that the interim bail order proved that the agencies and the government had made a false case in the alleged excise policy scam.
Delhi Excise policy case
The matter relates to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22. It is alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge repeatedly refuted by the AAP. The policy was subsequently scrapped and Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation probe, following which the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
(With inputs from agencies)
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