Delhi Excise Policy: Arvind Kejriwal moves High Court for bail in CBI case

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal approached the Delhi High Court on Wednesday seeking bail in the corruption case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the alleged excise liquor policy scam. The bail petition has been filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), according to Kejriwal’s lawyers.

"The investigations have already been completed and the materials which form the basis of the arrest have already been gathered. A premier investigating agency like the CBI cannot play truant with the process of law. It has to act with dispassion and objectivity while dispelling any notion of bias or lop-sided approach," the petition read, as reported by India Today.

The matter mentioned before the bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela for urgent listing, would now be heard on Friday.

Kejriwal’s plea before the Delhi High Court challenging his arrest by the CBI and the trial court’s order of June 26 and June 29 remanding him to CBI’s custody is also pending before the High Court. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna issued a notice to the CBI and asked CBI to file its reply within seven days and listed the matter for arguments on July 17.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Kejriwal was arrested by the CBI on June 26 from Tihar Jail, where he was in judicial custody in connection with a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by ED on March 21 but afterwards was granted bail by the Trial Court in the alleged money laundering case on June 20, which was however stayed by the High Court.

The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution. According to the probe agencies, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favors extended to the license holders.