SC grants bail to CM Arvind Kejriwal, AAP workers in Full Joy
New Delhi: The Supreme Court is pronouncing its order in the bail plea filed by Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal in the case initiated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in relation the corruption allegations surrounding the now scrapped Delhi excise policy of 2021-22.
The order is being pronounced by a Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan.
Kejriwal has filed two separate pleas before the apex court – one challenging the legality of his arrest by CBI and a second plea seeking bail.
The Delhi High Court had on August 5 refused Kejriwal’s petitions in that regard and had asked him to approach trial court for bail.
This led to the instant appeal by Kejriwal before the apex court.
The CBI arrested Kejriwal on June 26 while he was in judicial custody in connection with a money laundering case probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the same scam.
The case against Kejriwal stems from alleged irregularities in the framing of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy of 2021-22.
The case involves allegations that several AAP leaders including Kejriwal were involved in deliberately leaving loopholes in the excise policy in exchange for kickbacks from liquor lobbies. The investigation agencies have alleged that the funds garnered from this exercise were used to fund the AAP’s election campaign in Goa.
The case is being probed by both the CBI and the ED.
Kejriwal was first arrested in the matter by the ED on March 21. He was later granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in the ED case.
However, despite this interim bail order, he continued to remain in jail since the CBI also formally arrested him in the case on June 26 while he was in judicial custody in connection with the ED case.
He then moved the High Court directly for bail instead of moving the trial court first, which is the usual course of action adopted by accused persons.
The High Court refused to grant him bail and asked him to approach the trial court first. It also rejected the plea to declare his arrest as illegal.
This led to the appeal before the Supreme court.
The Court heard the matter at length before reserving its order on September 5.