The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the CBI to provide a response to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s bail petition concerning the corruption case linked to the alleged excise policy scam.
As reported by PTI, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna issued a notice to the CBI regarding the bail plea and scheduled the next hearing for July 17.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Arvind Kejriwal, argued that the AAP leader poses no flight risk nor is he a terrorist. Singhvi mentioned that Kejriwal was arrested by the CBI after securing bail in the Enforcement Directorate’s money laundering case.
On the other hand, advocate DP Singh, representing the CBI, objected to Kejriwal directly approaching the High Court without first filing a bail application in the trial court.
national convener of the AAP Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the CBI on June 26 from Tihar Jail, where he remains in judicial custody. This arrest is related to a connected money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Earlier, Kejriwal had been arrested by the ED on March 21 in the same money laundering case. He was granted bail by the trial court on June 20. However, the high court subsequently stayed the trial court’s bail order, leading to Kejriwal’s continued detention in Tihar Jail.
The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving the formulation and execution of the policy.
According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to the licence holders.