Delhi Excise Policy Case: A Delhi court on June 29 sent Arvind Kejriwal to judicial custody till July 12. Kejriwal, 55, was arrested by the CBI on June 26 from Tihar Jail, where he was in judicial custody in a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED)
Delhi Excise Policy Case: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday (July 1) challenged his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a corruption case related to the alleged excise policy scam in the Delhi High Court. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener has also challenged a Delhi court’s June 26 order sending him to CBI custody for 3 days.
The court had on June 29 sent Kejriwal to judicial custody till July 12. Kejriwal, 55, was arrested by the CBI on June 26 from Tihar jail, where he was in judicial custody in a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Kejriwal was produced before the court by the CBI after his three-day custodial interrogation ended. The central agency sought 14 days of judicial custody, claiming that the AAP chief did not cooperate in the investigation and deliberately gave evasive answers. The agency, in its remand plea, has also expressed apprehension that he may influence witnesses and evidence produced before him during the custodial interrogation.
They can also influence potential witnesses who are yet to be examined. Special Judge Sunaina Sharma said, “Considering the fact that the alleged conspiracy against the accused (Kejriwal) involves a large number of people who were involved in the formulation and implementation of the excise policy and also those who helped in the use of ill-gotten money, I find that there are sufficient grounds to send the accused to judicial custody.”
Perusing the evidence produced before it, the court said investigation revealed that accused Vijay Nair, a close aide of Kejriwal, was the media in-charge of Aam Aadmi Party and had approached various liquor manufacturers and traders to demand undue bribes for including favourable provisions to them in the Excise Policy 2021-22. It also noted that Kejriwal’s name cropped up as one of the “main conspirators of the criminal conspiracy” for various offences under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code.
Agency allegations
“Four charge sheets have already been filed in the case against 17 accused including those from the south group,” the court said. It said the investigating officer had stated in the case diary that Kejriwal was not cooperating during the custodial interrogation and neither did he show truthfulness in disclosing facts on several crucial aspects. “Certain incriminating material collected during the investigation has been placed by the IO to show that illegally earned money was used to pay for the expenses of air tickets and hotel bookings during the travel of the accused to Goa from June 2021 to February 2022 during the Goa Assembly elections, ” the court said.
The CBI said the IO also showed some incriminating material showing Kejriwal’s chats with some persons who were “involved in the transfer of illegally earned money to Goa through hawala”. According to the IO, since Kejriwal has given “evasive answers” about his links with these persons, his further custody is required to unearth the “larger conspiracy” regarding the formulation and implementation of the excise policy and the use of “illegally earned money” by Kejriwal and “other top leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party”.
“When put to the evidence, he did not give a proper and truthful explanation about increasing 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,” the order said. “He also could not explain why, during the peak of the second wave of Covid, the Cabinet approval for the revised Excise Policy was obtained in a hurry, within a day, when the accused persons of the South Group were camping in Delhi and holding meetings with his close associate Vijay Nair,” it added.
