A Delhi court on September 11 extended Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s judicial custody until September 25 regarding the ongoing excise policy scam investigation.
Kejriwal participated in the Rouse Avenue Court hearing via video call from Tihar jail, as his earlier judicial custody period had ended. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recently submitted a chargesheet, accusing the chief minister of saying that he was “party to the criminal conspiracy” tied to creating and implementing the Delhi excise policy from the start.
In a brief hearing, the CBI assured the court it would supply the soft copy of the charge sheet to the accused and provide the hard copy within 3-4 days.
According to the reports, Kejriwal demanded monetary support for his party, AAP, in March 2021, when the policy was being formulated by the GoM headed by the co-accused Manish Sisodia.
The charges also claim that his close associate, Vijay Nair, who handles media and communication for AAP, contacted various individuals involved in the Delhi excise business, seeking bribes in exchange for favourable terms in the policy.
In response, Kejriwal’s party has dismissed the allegations. It said, “So why has not even a single penny been recovered till now? Despite questioning 500 witnesses and filing 50,000 pages of documents, not one rupee of corruption has been traced to any AAP leader.”
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is yet to pronounce its verdict on Mr. Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest by CBI and seeking bail in the corruption case.
