June 30, 2024 – Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has approached the Delhi High Court, contesting his recent arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the excise policy case. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief is also challenging a Delhi court’s June 26 order, which placed him in three-day custody.
Following the end of his three-day custody, the Delhi court on Saturday remanded Kejriwal to judicial custody until July 12. The court cited his involvement as one of the “main conspirators” in the excise policy case.
The CBI had requested a 14-day judicial custody, arguing that Kejriwal was uncooperative during the probe and provided evasive responses. The agency also expressed concerns that Kejriwal might attempt to influence witnesses.
Kejriwal was initially arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 in a money-laundering investigation related to the excise policy case, followed by his arrest by the CBI on June 26.
Special judge Sunena Sharma stated “Considering the fact that 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”.
The judge noted that the CBI required Kejriwal’s custodial interrogation to confront him with additional material expected to be collected during the investigation.
The court further mentioned that the investigating officer (IO) highlighted in the case diary that Kejriwal was uncooperative and untruthful during his custodial interrogation.
The court noted “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 booking during the visits of the accused to Goa from June 2021 to February 2022”.
Kejriwal, along with other AAP leaders, is accused of accepting ₹100 crore in kickbacks from a group of businessmen and politicians in exchange for formulating a favorable liquor policy. The policy was subsequently scrapped following an order by Delhi’s lieutenant governor to probe alleged irregularities in granting liquor licenses.
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