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Arvind Kejriwal, arrested at Delhi court complex, to be in CBI custody for 3 days
Special judge Amitabh Rawat remanded Arvind Kejriwal in CBI custody for 3 days, saying he should be produced before the court on June 29 before 7pm
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal at the Rouse Avenue courts complex in connection with the now-scrapped 2021-22 excise policy after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief was produced before a city court. He was later remanded in CBI custody for three days.
“We could’ve done the exercise before the (Lok Sabha) elections but did not. It was only after he went back (at the end of his interim bail, that we sought permission,” special public prosecutor DP Singh, appearing for CBI, told special judge Amitabh Rawat who had declined to interfere with the CBI questioning and arresting Kejriwal.
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To a question by the judge why the agency was arresting Kejriwal at this stage, Singh said CBI received the sanction to prosecute the chief minister under the Prevention of Corruption Act in April but the prosecution did not want to overreach the majesty of the Supreme Court which was considering Kejriwal’s release on interim bail at the time. “We showed restraint…. Every time we have tried to show our restraint. Now it is absolutely mandatory because now we want to conclude (the investigation) by July 3. There is an emergency for it. We will try to file the chargesheet thereafter,” Singh told the court.
The agency had sought his custody for five days, saying they needed to confront him with some documents and rejected criticism around the timing of the arrest. Special judge Amitabh Rawat later in the evening remanded Kejriwal in CBI custody for 3 days, saying he should be produced before the court on June 29 before 7pm.
During the arguments to seek Kejriwal’s custody, CBI also said the chief minister was “pushing the entire onus on Manish Sisodia and saying that he has no idea about the excise policy”. The statement drew a sharp response from Kejriwal, who later addressed the court, and stressed that the CBI was trying to sensationalise the case.
“I have never given any statement that Manish Sisodia is guilty. I have given a statement that Aam Aadmi Party, Manish Sisodia and I are not guilty,” Kejriwal said in Hindi. “They (CBI) are sensationalising the issue. They want the newspapers to carry a front-page headline that Arvind Kejriwal has shifted the entire blame on Manish Sisodia,” he told the judge.
Senior lawyer Vikram Chaudhari, who appeared for Kejriwal, described his arrest as the “biggest abuse of process of law”.
Chaudhari pointed out that though Kejriwal’s name cropped up in almost every chargesheet, CBI had chosen to maintain an “eerie silence” and insisted that there was no necessity on CBI’s part to arrest the chief minister. That CBI decided to arrest Kejriwal after vacation trial judge Niyay Bindu ordered his release on bail on Thursday makes it clear that the decision was malafide and a sham, he said.
To be sure, the Delhi high court on Tuesday stayed the trial judge’s order granting bail in a money laundering case, calling the decision “perverse” and criticising the trial court for inadequately considering evidence presented by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
DP Singh underlined that CBI moved the application to interrogate the chief minister and issue a production warrant only after the high court stayed the bail order. Singh said that the evidence, role and lies had come in parts and there were two agencies probing the excise policy.
He added that it is “necessary to arrest the CM” to complete the investigation. “Arguments on charges have started so now we are in the hurry to “conclude the entire investigation” and thus it is necessary to arrest him (Kejriwal),” Singh said.
Kejriwal has been in custody since March 21, except for a brief period of interim bail granted by the Supreme Court for election campaigning. The case stems from alleged irregularities in Delhi’s now-scrapped 2021-22 excise policy.
The case against the CM stems from allegations of irregularities in Delhi’s now-scrapped excise policy of 2021-22, which the CBI began probing following a recommendation by Delhi’s lieutenant governor in July 2022. Kejriwal was the third AAP leader arrested in this connection. Former deputy CM Manish Sisodia has been in jail since February 2023, and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh was granted bail by the top court in April this year after six months of custody.
