Emergency-like situation: CM’s wife; AAP says CBI left exposed in Delhi court

The AAP allegations came hours after CBI arrested Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday alleged that the country was in an “emergency-like situation”, and claimed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was left “exposed” while attempting to tarnish the image of party leaders.

Sunita Kejriwal, wife of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, at Rouse Avenue Court where her husband has been produced by the CBI seeking his custody, in New Delhi on Wednesday. (PTI)

The AAP allegations came hours after CBI arrested Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22.

The CM’s wife Sunita Kejriwal, in a post on X, claimed that the “whole system” is trying to ensure that her husband does not come out of jail.

“Arvind Kejriwal got bail on June 20. Immediately ED (Enforcement Directorate) got a stay. The very next day CBI made him an accused. And today he was arrested. The whole system is trying to ensure that the man does not come out of jail. This is not law. This is dictatorship, this is emergency,” she said in a post in Hindi.

AAP leader Jasmine Shah accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government of using federal investigative agencies as “weapons” in order to “destroy” the opposition.

“The entire opposition believes that ED and CBI have become weapons to destroy the opposition. In this war, we will fight the court battle in the court and the parliamentary battle in the Parliament,” he said at a press conference.

Shah said Kejriwal’s arrest has revealed the BJP’s “panic”, and claimed that CBI was left “exposed” in court while trying to allege that the CM blamed his former deputy Manish Sisodia for alleged irregularities in the regime.

“In April 2023, CBI interrogated Arvind Kejriwal for nine hours. After this, the CBI remained silent on this… When it came to know that the trial court granted bail to Arvind Kejriwal in the ED case, CBI woke up… They immediately arrested him by making him an accused. This shows the panic of the BJP,” he said.

“During the hearing in the court, the CBI lawyer, out of the blue, said Arvind Kejriwal had washed his hands off the matter and had put the entire blame on Manish Sisodia. On this, Arvind Kejriwal immediately protested and told the judge that CBI is lying and he has never given such a statement... The judge examined his statement and clearly said that Arvind Kejriwal has not given any such statement and that the CBI is lying… Kejriwal exposed the intention of the CBI in the court,” Shah said.

Separately, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said, “When the trial court had already granted bail to Kejriwal, and the Supreme Court was about to grant bail to Kejriwal, then CBI remembered…”

Responding to the AAP allegations, the BJP said that Kejriwal’s arrest is not a surprise for the residents of Delhi.

“CBI had already filed the primary case in which Kejriwal was previously summoned… After Manish Sisodia, the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal in the case filed by Congress was a demand of justice. Therefore, this arrest of Kejriwal and his presentation in court is not surprising and is merely the final stage of the legal process,” Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.