Arvind Kejriwal moves court for bail: ‘Harassed by CBI in garb of investigation’

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday moved the Delhi High Court seeking bail in the liquor policy case being probed by the CBI.

Kejriwal moved the High Court directly for bail. Lawyers say that there is no bar in going directly to the High Court for bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

In his petition, accessed exclusively by India Today, Arvind Kejriwal alleged the CBI was continuously haranguing and harassing him in the garb of the ongoing investigations in the liquor policy case, and called it a matter of grave dismay and concern.

The Chief Minister also alleged he rendered all due cooperation and assistance to the CBI when he was called for interrogations in April 2023.

His arrest is wholly illegal, unconstitutional and unsustainable, the Chief Minister claimed, adding, that the remand orders are patently routine, leading to vitiation of the entire process of arrest and proceedings.

“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 by Arvind Kejriwal read.

The Delhi Chief Minister’s plea challenging his arrest by the CBI and the trial court order remanding him to the agency’s custody is also pending before the High Court.

On Tuesday, the Chief Minister’s lawyer informed the Delhi High Court that he would soon move an application for regular bail in the corruption case related to the liquor policy scam case.

The court, meanwhile, asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to respond to his plea challenging his arrest in the case involving alleged graft.

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna issued a notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and asked it to file its reply within seven days and listed the matter for arguments on July 17.

Besides his arrest, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener has also challenged the trial court’s June 26 and June 29 orders by which he was remanded in CBI custody for three days and judicial custody till July 12, respectively.

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the CBI on June 26 from Tihar Jail, where he was in judicial custody in a connected money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

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 CBI and ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to the licence holders.