SC reserves order on Kejriwal's pleas for bail

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's separate pleas seeking bail and challenging his arrest by the CBI in the alleged excise policy scam.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan heard arguments put forward by Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, representing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal. "Thank you for the assistance. Judgment reserved," the bench said after the lawyers concluded their arguments.

Kejriwal has filed two separate petitions challenging the denial of bail and against his arrest by the CBI in the corruption case filed by the central agency. The AAP chief was arrested by the CBI on June 26. The Delhi High Court had on August 5 upheld the arrest of the chief minister as legal, and said there was no malice in the acts done by the CBI which was able to demonstrate how the AAP supremo could influence witnesses who could muster the courage to depose only after his arrest.

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 licence holders.

In lower court, CBI said Kejriwal had a "preconceived" plan to privatise liquor business in the national capital and his AAP benefited from illicit funds it raised through the excise policy "scam."

The CBI made the allegations before Special Judge Kaveri Baweja in its supplementary charge sheet filed against Kejriwal in the case recently. The court took cognisance of the charge sheet against Kejriwal, AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak and others on September 3. According to sources, the CBI alleged that Kejriwal, who was the overall in-charge of the party as its national convenor, was behind the criminal conspiracy to generate illicit funds. It alleged that in order to execute his preconceived plan, Kejriwal sought monetary support for AAP in March 2021, when the excise policy was being formulated by a Group of Ministers (GoM) led by co-accused Manish Sisodia. Sisodia was then the deputy chief minister and held the excise portfolio. Kejriwal's close associate and AAP's former communication in-charge Vijay Nair, also an accused in the case, was alleged to have approached various stakeholders in the liquor business and demanded illegal gratification in exchange for "favourable adjustments" in the policy.