The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday interrogated Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and recorded his statements in connection with the Excise policy case. The central agency has also got permission to present Kejriwal before the concerned trial court. He is set to be produced before the trial court on Wednesday, June 26. According to sources, the CBI questioned the Delhi Chief Minister for around one-and-half hours but has not arrested him as of now.
'Big conspiracy against Kejriwal'
Meanwhile, senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh has accused the central government and the CBI of orchestrating a "big conspiracy" against Kejriwal. "There is every possibility of Arvind Kejriwal getting bail from the Supreme Court. Before this, the BJP government at the Center has conspired with the CBI to prepare a false case against Kejriwal ji and arrest him. The whole country is watching the atrocities and injustice of the BJP and the central government. The whole country stands with Arvind Kejriwal against the atrocities of the BJP and will together raise its voice against injustice," Singh stated in a video message on X.
Delhi HC stays Kejriwal's bail
Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court stayed the trial court order granting Kejriwal bail in the money laundering case arising from the alleged excise policy case. The high court observed that the lower court did not "appropriately appreciate" the material placed before it by the Enforcement Directorate. A vacation bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain said the ED's contentions assailing the bail order required serious consideration. "The Vacation (trial) Judge while passing the Impugned Order did not appropriately appreciate the material/documents submitted on record and pleas taken by ED and the averments/grounds as raised in the petition under section 439(2) of the Code require serious consideration," it said.
Kejriwal was granted bail by trial court
Earlier on June 20, the Rouse Avenue Court had granted bail to Kejriwal and ordered his release on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh. However, the ED moved the high court the very next day and contended that the trial court's order was "perverse", "one-sided" and "wrong-sided" and it was passed without granting it adequate opportunity to argue the case. In a 34-page order addressing the Enforcement Directorate's application for a stay on the bail order, Justice Jain emphasised that every court has an obligation to provide sufficient opportunity for all parties to present their respective cases. In this particular instance, Justice Jain asserted that the ED should have been given adequate opportunity to advance its arguments regarding Arvind Kejriwal's bail application.
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).
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