Arvind Kejriwal moves High Court against CBI arrest in liquor policy scam

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has moved the High Court against his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the excise policy case. He has also challenged the trial court order of June 26, sending him to 3 days custodial remand to the CBI, news agency ANI reported on Monday. 

Last Wednesday, the CBI arrested the AAP chief in a corruption case linked to the alleged excise scam. He was already in judicial custody in connection with a money laundering case related to the same scam. The ED is probing the money laundering angle in the alleged liquor policy scam. A Delhi court later sent Kejriwal to three-day custody of the CBI. 

As the 3-day custody ended, the court remanded Kejriwal to 14-day judicial custody on Saturday. The AAP chief will be staying in jail till July 12 and will be presented in Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court again at around 2 pm via video conferencing.

The CBI claimed in its remand application that the chief minister did not cooperate during custodial interrogation. The probe agency also stated that Kejriwal deliberately provided evasive answers that contradicted the evidence on record.

"On being confronted with the evidence, he did not give a proper and truthful explanation regarding the enhancement of the profit margin for wholesalers from 5 per cent to 12 per cent under the new excise policy of Delhi 2021-22, without any study or justification," it said.

"He also could not explain as to why during the peak of second wave of Covid, the cabinet approval for revised excise policy was obtained through circulation in a hurried manner within one day, when the accused persons of the South Group were camping in Delhi and holding meetings with his close associate Vijay Nair," it added.

During the hearing, advocate Vikram Chaudhary, representing Kejriwal, told the court that the investigation into the alleged liquor policy scam has been ongoing since 2022.

"Kejriwal was arrested in March 2024. He was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court. On the last date of the hearing, they (CBI) had said that they collected evidence in January, they said that they had in April obtained the sanctions. They also said that they had not arrested me earlier because they did not want to overreach the Supreme Court," the advocate said, urging the court to direct CBI to place on record all the evidence they have collected in connection with the case.

(With inputs from Sreya Chatterjee)