Arvind Kejriwal Challenges CBI Arrest in Delhi High Court

Arvind Kejriwal Challenges CBI Arrest in Delhi High Court

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal filed a petition with the Delhi High Court on Monday, challenging his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the excise policy case. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) president also contested a Delhi court’s June 26 judgment that sentenced him to three days in prison. As one of the “main conspirators” in the excise policy case, Kejriwal was named by the Delhi court on Saturday, when his three-day custody period came to an end. The judge ordered Kejriwal to remain in judicial custody till July 12.

The agency has sought 14 days of judicial custody, stating that Arvind Kejriwal refused to comply with the investigation and provided evasive responses. The agency stated that Kejriwal may seek to influence witnesses. The CBI detained Arvind Kejriwal on June 26 in connection with a money-laundering investigation related to the excise policy issue, after the Enforcement Directorate arrested him on March 21.

“Because the conspiracy alleged against the accused (Kejriwal) involves a large number of persons who were involved in the formulation and implementation of excise policy and also the persons who acted as facilitators in the use of ill-gotten money, I find that there exist sufficient grounds for remanding the accused to judicial custody’,” Sunena Sharma, the special judge, said.

According to the judge, the agency mandated Kejriwal’s detention for questioning to “confront him with more material likely to be collected during the investigation.”. The investigating officer (IO) had noted in the case diary, according to the court, that Kejriwal had not been forthcoming during his detention interrogation and had not been truthful in his disclosure of material facts on numerous occasions.

“The IO has pointed out certain incriminatory material collected during the investigation for showing that the ill-gotten money was used during the Goa assembly election for making payments towards the expenses of air tickets and hotel bookings during the visits of the accused to Goa from June 2021 to February 2022,” the court said.

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Kejriwal and some other AAP leaders are accused of accepting ₹100 crores as kickbacks from a group of businessmen and politicians in return for formulating a favourable liquor policy. The policy was scrapped soon after Delhi’s lieutenant governor ordered a probe into alleged irregularities in granting liquor licenses. A substantial amount of the purported payments, according to the CBI and ED, were allegedly routed through hawala routes for the party’s Goa election campaign.