Delhi Excise Policy Case : CBI questions Arvind Kejriwal in Tihar jail ; SC to hear his plea today
Delhi Excise Policy Case : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal faced questioning by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) twice this week regarding the alleged liquor policy case.
The CBI interrogated Kejriwal on Monday and then again on Tuesday for over an hour in Tihar jail. The Aam Aadmi Party leader is currently imprisoned in connection with an Enforcement Directorate's money laundering case linked to the alleged liquor policy case.
The Delhi liquor policy for 2021-22 was revoked after the Delhi lieutenant governor mandated a CBI investigation into alleged irregularities and corruption in its creation and implementation.
The probe agency on Tuesday also got permission for Arvind Kejriwal's production before the concerned trial court on Wednesday. He will be produced before the concerned court on Wednesday.
According to the CBI sources, he is likely to be officially arrested in the case before the court today.
The vacation bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain, while passing the order, said that documents and arguments were not appreciated properly by the trial court.
A vacation bench of Justices Manoj Misra and SVN Bhatti observed that the decision of the High Court to grant an interim stay on Kejriwal's bail without passing a final order in the matter was "unusual".
"In stay matters, judgments are not reserved but passed on the spot. What has happened here is unusual. We will have it (case before it) the day after," the bench said.
On June 21, the High Court issued an interim stay on bail while reserving its decision and requested both parties to submit their written arguments by Monday. Kejriwal subsequently appealed the High Court order to the Supreme Court.
The apex court deemed it appropriate to wait for the High Court's final decision, expected in a day or two. On June 20, a trial judge granted bail to Kejriwal in the money laundering case. The following day, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed an urgent petition with the High Court challenging the bail order.
The High Court heard extensive arguments from both sides, reserved its decision on the ED's request to stay the bail order, and suspended Kejriwal's release until its order is pronounced.
- With inputs from agencies
