Will Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal be the third top AAP leader after Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh to walk out of jail in the liquor policy case? It will be known today as the Supreme Court delivers a crucial verdict on Kejriwal's petitions seeking bail and challenging his arrest by the CBI in the excise policy case.
The Supreme Court bench, comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, will give the verdict at 10:30 am. The bench had reserved its verdict on the pleas on September 5.
The AAP chief was arrested by the CBI on June 26 while he was in the custody of the ED in the money laundering case stemming from the alleged liquor policy scam.
Weeks later, on July 12, the Supreme Court granted the Chief Minister interim bail in the ED case. His petition challenging the arrest by the ED was referred to a larger bench. However, he remained in Tihar Jail due to his arrest by the CBI.
If Kejriwal is granted bail, then he will be the fourth high-profile leader to walk out of jail in the liquor policy case after AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Vijay Nair and Bharat Rashtra Samithi's K Kavitha.
TEAM KEJRIWAL VS CBI: ARGUMENTS
During the hearing, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, argued that the CBI arrested the AAP chief when he was on the "cusp of release" in the ED case, terming CBI's move an "insurance arrest".
"I am the most captive interrogatee you can find, ever. Just for insurance you arrested. No substantial material was demonstrated to justify my arrest. The grounds were vague," Singhvi had said.
Singhvi also pointed out that though the CBI case was registered in August 2022, Kejriwal was not arrested for about two years.
On the other hand, the CBI has claimed that a big chunk of the kickbacks from the excise policy case was used by AAP in the Goa Assembly polls in 2022.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the CBI, objected to the bail petition, saying Kejriwal had never approached the trial court for bail, which is the usual course of action.
The Chief Minister, who has been behind bars since April 1, moved the High Court directly for bail, which was rejected. He then approached the Supreme Court.
The ASG claimed that the Delhi High Court would get demoralised if Kejriwal was granted bail. However, the Supreme Court expressed disagreement with this submission, and said, "Don't say that".
The AAP government rolled out the new liquor excise policy in November 2021 to revamp the liquor trade in the national capital. However, the policy was withdrawn eight months later amid allegations of corruption in granting liquor licences.
Source: India Today