The Supreme Court is set to deliver its judgement on September 13 on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s request for bail and his plea to nullify the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) ‘s arrest of him in the Delhi Excise Policy case.
Kejriwal approached the apex court with two petitions—one challenging the legality of his arrest by the CBI and the other asking for bail. Earlier, the Delhi High Court had rejected Kejriwal’s petitions on August 5, directing him to seek bail from the trial court instead. This decision prompted Kejriwal to escalate the matter to the Supreme Court.
The CBI took Kejriwal into custody on June 26 while he was already in judicial detention over a related money laundering case investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Both cases are tied to alleged wrongdoing in formulating the now-defunct Delhi excise policy of 2021-22.
The accusations suggest that several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Kejriwal, intentionally created loopholes in the excise policy in exchange for financial benefits from liquor lobbies. The probe is being carried out jointly by the CBI and ED. Kejriwal was initially arrested by the ED on March 21, after which the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in connection with the ED case.
However, despite securing interim bail, Kejriwal remained behind bars due to the CBI’s formal arrest on June 26 while he was still under judicial custody for the ED case. Instead of first applying for bail at the trial court, Kejriwal went directly to the High Court.
Notably, other key figures in the case, including AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, have been granted bail by the Supreme Court. In addition, AAP’s communications-in-charge Vijay Nair and Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha were also recently granted bail by the top court in connection with the same case.
