Arvind Kejriwal Granted Bail in High-Profile Delhi Excise Policy Case
Delhi court also declines the Enforcement Directorate’s request to stay the order for 48 hours.
A Delhi court on June 20 granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi Excise policy of 2021-22.
Vacation judge, Rouse Avenue Court, Niyay Bindu passed the order after hearing Mr. Kejriwal and the ED at length. The bail order was dictated by the judge in an open court on June 20 evening. The detailed court order is awaited.
Soon after pronouncement of the order, ED’s counsel Zoheb Hossain prayed if the signing of the bail bond could be deferred by 48 hours so that the central agency may be challenged before the appellate court.
The prayer was rejected by the court, and announced that bail bond will be produced before the duty judge on June 21.
The Delhi Chief Minister was arrested by the ED on March 21. The agency had alleged that Mr. Kejriwal was the ‘kingpin’ was the Delhi Excise policy scam. After remaining in jail for weeks, he was released on May 10 by the Supreme Court to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. He returned to jail on June 2 as the apex court denied him further relief.
Mr. Kejriwal, earlier this month, had filed two bail applications in the Rouse Avenue Court, one for a seven days bail for treatment which was denied on June 5. The second application was of regular bail which was granted on June 20.
The case against the Mr. Kejriwal was based on the FIR initially filed by the CBI on the complaint of the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi alleging multiple irregularities Delhi Excise policy-2021-22, which was subsequently withdrawn by the state.
After the CBI case, the ED filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, alleging that the money earned through the excise policy was diverted through “hawala” channels to be spent on the AAP’s campaign in Goa ahead of the Assembly elections there in 2022.
The CBI and ED have made multiple arrests in this case including of former deputy CM of Delhi Manish Sisodia and AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Singh and BRS leader K Kavitha. While Ms. Kavitha and Mr. Sisodia are languishing in jail, Mr. Singh was granted bail earlier this year.
The ED while opposing the bail plea of the Delhi CM had submitted in the court that the accused had stayed in a seven-star hotel in Goa whose bill was paid through kickback money. The ED also maintained that Mr. kejriwal may not have committed the offence but he is responsible for the affairs of the AAP and if AAP is guilty of an offence then he is guilty of the offence as well.
Responding to ED’s claims, Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhary, who represented Mr. Kejriwal said that ED had drawn all its conclusions based on hypothesis and that there is no money trail, as alleged by the agency.
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