Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Secures Bail In Excise Policy Case
The bail order on Kejriwal's plea was passed by vacation Judge Nyay Bindu of Delhi's Rouse Avenue court.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal secured bail on Thursday in the Excise Policy Case. The order was passed by vacation Judge Nyay Bindu of Delhi's Rouse Avenue court. A bail bond of Rs 1 lakh has been imposed. The Aam Aadmi Party chief is likely to come out of jail on Friday, as the bail order has to reach the jail first.
The Enforcement Directorate’s special counsel, Zoheb Hossain, appealed for a stay of the order till the agency exercised its legal remedies. The court, however, rejected the request, Live Law reported.
Kejriwal's counsel told the Delhi court that the ED's entire case against the CM rested on statements given by those who turned approvers in the case.
"The statements are of those people who have confessed to being guilty. They are not saints here. They are those who are not only tainted, but it appears that some who were arrested were given a promise of bail and a promise of being granted pardon. Approvers. And there is another category who have not been arrested," Kejriwal's lawyer said earlier today, after which the court reserved its order, only to announce the bail around 8:00 p.m.
Last month, Kejriwal applied for a seven-day extension to his interim bail, which was rejected by the Supreme Court and the sitting CM returned to Tihar Jail on June 2.
The case pertains to accusations of corruption and money laundering during the formulation and implementation of the Delhi government's excise policy in 2021–2022, which was later scrapped.
The case led to the arrest of Manish Sisodia, the former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, in February 2023. AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh also faced arrest in October 2023.
In April, BRS leader K. Kavitha was arrested in the case. Following Kavitha's arrest, the ED released a press note calling Kejriwal a conspirator in the alleged liquor policy scam.
