Delhi Excise Police Case: Arvind Kejriwal Granted Bail By Supreme Court After Spending 6 Months In Jail

The Supreme Court granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today in the excise policy case. He was arrested by the CBI for the same.

A bench led by Justice Surya Kant and also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan pronounced the verdict at 10:30 am, according to the cause list uploaded on the Supreme Court website.

Photo Credit: PTI

Kejriwal filed two separate petitions, one challenging the denial of bail and the other contesting his arrest by the CBI.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader was arrested by the CBI on June 26, and approached the top court after the Delhi High Court upheld his arrest on August 5.

The high court observed that "the loop of evidence against Arvind Kejriwal got closed after collection of relevant evidence following his arrest by the CBI and it cannot be said it was without any justifiable reason or illegal."

However, the court granted him the liberty to approach a trial court for bail.

What is Excise Policy Case?

The case revolves around alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of Delhi's 2021-22 excise policy, which has since been scrapped.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also filed a separate money laundering case related to this alleged "scam," for which Kejriwal was arrested on March 21.

In his Supreme Court hearing on September 5, Kejriwal opposed the CBI's argument that he should have sought bail from the trial court first.

However, the CBI's counsel, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, argued that "in the money laundering case, where Kejriwal contested his ED arrest, the Supreme Court had also directed him to approach the trial court."