Arvind Kejriwal Moves Delhi High Court To Challenge Arrest By CBI In Liquor Policy Case

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal filed a petition in the Delhi High Court on Monday (1 July), contesting his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) concerning the liquor excise policy case.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener also appealed against a Delhi court's 26 June order that placed him in three-day custody as per a report by Hindustan Times.

On Saturday (29 June), following the end of Kejriwal's three-day custody, the Delhi court remanded him to judicial custody until 12 July, citing his identification as one of the "main conspirators" in the liquor policy case.

The CBI had requested a 14-day judicial custody, claiming that Kejriwal was uncooperative during the investigation and provided evasive answers. The agency also expressed concerns that Kejriwal might try to influence witnesses.

Arvind Kejriwal, who was initially arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on 21 March in a money-laundering investigation was taken into custody by the CBI on 26 June.

"Considering the fact that the conspiracy alleged against the accused (Kejriwal) involves a large number of persons who were involved in the formulation and implementation of the excise policy and also the persons who acted as facilitators in the use of ill-gotten money, I find that there exist sufficient grounds for remanding the accused to judicial custody," special judge Sunena Sharma stated.

The court also observed that the investigating officer (IO) had indicated in the case diary that Kejriwal was uncooperative and not truthful during his custodial interrogation.

"The IO has pointed out certain incriminatory material collected during the investigation showing that the ill-gotten money was used during the Goa assembly election for payments towards the expenses of air tickets and hotel bookings during the visits of the accused to Goa from June 2021 to February 2022," the court mentioned.

Arvind Kejriwal and several other AAP leaders are accused of accepting Rs 100 crore in kickbacks from a group of businessmen and politicians in exchange for creating a favourable liquor policy.

The policy was subsequently scrapped following an investigation ordered by Delhi's lieutenant governor into alleged irregularities in granting liquor licenses.