Arvind Kejriwal Challenges Arrest By CBI In Delhi HC In Excise Policy Case

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal challenged in Delhi High Court on Monday his arrest by the CBI in a corruption case related to the alleged excise policy scam.

The AAP national convenor also challenged a trial court's June 26 order by which he was remanded to three-day custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). On June 29, he was sent to judicial custody till July 12 by the trial court.

Kejriwal was arrested by the CBI on June 26 from Tihar jail, where he was in judicial custody in a related money-laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate.

Last week, the Delhi High Court stayed the trial court order granting bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case stemming from the alleged excise scam.

A vacation bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain said the trial court failed to appreciate the material placed before it by the Enforcement Directorate and did not apply its mind while deciding the AAP leader's bail plea.

The judge also said the trial court ought to have given adequate opportunity to the agency to argue its case.

"The operation of the impugned order is stayed," the bench said.

The trial court had granted bail to Kejriwal on June 20 and ordered his release on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh.

ED moved the high court the next day and contended that the trial court's order was "perverse", "one-sided" and "wrong-sided" and that the findings were based on irrelevant facts.

The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution.

According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to the licence holders.