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Supreme Court adjourns Arvind Kejriwal's plea challenging CBI arrest in Delhi excise policy case
Supreme Court on Friday adjourned Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's petition challenging his arrest by the CBI in the Delhi excise policy case.
Supreme Court on Friday adjourned Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's petition challenging his arrest by the CBI in the alleged excise policy case in the national capital. The next hearing will be held on September 5.
A bench of justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan allowed the CBI to file its counter affidavit in the matter and also gave Kejriwal two days to file a rejoinder.
This comes two days after a Delhi court extended the chief minister's judicial custody till August 27 in the case registered by the CBI.
Kejriwal was first arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in the alleged excise policy case, hours after the Delhi high court denied his request for interim protection from arrest. He was later taken into custody by the CBI on June 26 from Delhi Rouse Avenue court and was sent to judicial custody on June 29.
The Supreme Court granted interim bail to the Delhi CM on May 10 to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. However, he had to surrender on June 2 before the Tihar officials.
Also read: BJP, AAP lock horns over removal of Kejriwal's photo from Independence Day advertisement
On July 30, the CBI filed its fourth supplementary charge sheet naming Kejriwal as an accused in the case, alleging that he was “one of the key conspirators” in the case.
Later, on July 12, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Kejriwal in the ED case. However, he is still in jail in the CBI case.
What is the Delhi excise policy case?
The Delhi government had come up with an excise policy in 2021-22 aiming to revitalise the city's flagging liquor business by replacing the sales-volume-based regime with a license fee for traders, and promised swankier stores, free of the infamous metal grilles, ultimately giving customers a better buying experience. However, the policy was scrapped after Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena sought a CBI probe into the policy alleging irregularities.
According to ED, the Kejriwal-led AAP received kickbacks to the tune of ₹100 crore to finalise the excise policy. It was also alleged that a large chunk of this money was used by the party in its Goa election campaign.
