Arvind Kejriwal Sent To Judicial Custody Till 12 July In Delhi Liquor Policy Case

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been sent to judicial custody till 12 July in the Delhi liquor policy case being probed by the Central Bureau Investigation (CBI).

The CBI had said it needs Kejriwal's custody in the "interest of investigation and justice".

Earlier today, special judge Sunena Sharma had reserved the order after Kejriwal was brought to the court after his three-day CBI custody ended.

The court had on Wednesday sent Kejriwal to CBI custody for three days, a day after he was questioned by the agency in Tihar Jail.

In its remand application, the CBI alleged Kejriwal did not cooperate and gave evasive replies.

"On being confronted with the evidence, he did not give a proper and truthful explanation regarding the enhancement of the profit margin for wholesalers from 5 per cent to 12 per cent under the new excise policy of Delhi 2021-22, without any study or justification," the CBI said.

The agency further said that Kejriwal could not explain "as to why during the peak of second wave of Covid, the cabinet approval for revised excise policy was obtained through circulation in a hurried manner within one day, when the accused persons of the South Group were camping in Delhi and holding meetings with his close associate Vijay Nair".

"He, being a prominent politician and chief minister of Delhi, is a very influential person, as such, there are credible reasons to believe that, he may influence the witnesses and evidences already exposed before him during the custodial interrogation and also the potential witnesses, who are yet to be examined, tamper with the evidence to be further collected and may hamper the ongoing investigation," the CBI application said, NDTV reported.

Arrested on 21 March by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged money laundering case linked to the excise policy, Kejriwal suffered a setback Tuesday when the Delhi High Court stayed a trial court order granting him bail in the ED case.

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