CBI Arrests Arvind Kejriwal in Excise Policy Case, seeks 5 day custody

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday formally arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the excise policy case. The Central probe agency interrogated the AAP Convenor in Tihar Jail and recorded his statement related to the excise policy scam, subsequently, he was arrested when he was presented before the court. The CBI has sought a 5-day custody.

“We did not want to overreach the majesty of the SC. He says that sanction under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act came in April… We showed our restraint. Every time we have tried to show our restraint. Now it is absolutely mandatory because now we want to conclude the investigation by July 3. There is an emergency for it. We will try to file the charge sheet thereafter,” said SSP Singh from CBI.

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested hours before the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear his petition challenging the Delhi High Court’s interim stay on the bail order given by the trial court. Following his arrest, Kejriwal withdrew his plea from the Supreme Court. A vacation bench of Justices Manoj Mishra and SVN Bhatti allowed Kejriwal to withdraw his plea. Kejriwal's lawyer Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi informed the Court that on June 25, the Delhi High Court passed the final order on the ED's stay application and pronounced the reasons for staying the bail order. In this view of the matter, Singhvi said that the present petition is being withdrawn to file a fresh petition challenging both the June 25 and June 21 orders of the Delhi High Court.

Following the arrest, Arvind Kejriwal’s lawyers challenged the CBI’s decision to arrest the AAP convener stating that the process was carried out in the “most biased manner". Kejriwal then was questioned as a witness in the case, after which, lawyers representing him asked for this hearing to be deferred by 24 hours so they could study the CBI's case.

The Delhi High Court on June 25 stayed the trial court’s order granting bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the Excise Policy Case. The High Court agreed with the ED’s allegations that the trial court did not hear the probe agency properly and took objection to the judge’s observation that the entire voluminous record was not perused.

The Enforcement Directorate arrested Arvind Kejriwal on March 21 in an alleged money laundering case linked to a now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. The probe agency has alleged that the money got from the liquor sellers was used to fund the party’s poll campaign in Goa. On June 20, special judge Niyay Bindu granted bail to Arvind Kejriwal and ordered his release on a personal bond of Rs. 1lakh and imposed certain conditions. The Supreme Court had previously granted him bail till June 1, allowing him to campaign for the Lok Sabha Elections. Arvind Kejriwal surrendered at Tihar Jail on June 2 after the expiry of the interim bail.