The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal a day after questioning him inside Tihar jail in the excise policy case.
The CBI’s arrest comes on a day the Supreme Court was to hear Kejriwal’s bail application in the same case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate. AAP convenor Kejriwal, however, withdrew the petition, which challenged the stay that the Delhi High Court had ordered on Tuesday on the bail granted to him by a trial court following his arrest in March this year.
The CBI is heading towards concluding the investigation in the liquor policy case, having filed four chargesheets against 17 accused persons. The CBI arrested Kejriwal inside Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court, where he had been produced in compliance with the production warrant issued against him by the vacation bench Judge Amitabh Rawat in the liquor policy case. Judge Rawat asked the agency to place the material record for his arrest in the liquor policy case.
Kejriwal’s wife Sunita, and AAP leaders Sanjay Singh and Dilip Pandey were present in court.
During the hearing in Rouse Avenue Court, Kejriwal’s lawyers said the CBI’s arrest revealed the “most biased manner” in which the agency acted. Senior advocate Vikram Chaudhari questioned the CBI decision, given that it had already quizzed Kejriwal for nine hours in April last year.
Kejriwal was till then not made an accused in the case.
‘No obligation’
“It is a poor citizen vs might of the State. This case is pending since August 2022. I was called as a witness... I appeared and, for nine hours, I assisted. Not a single notice (from the CBI) since then. How did they shift from a witness to an accused... it is a long distance to cover,” Chaudhuri argued.
Kejriwal wanted the hearing deferred by a day so he could study the CBI’s case.
CBI Special Public Prosecutor DP Singh responded that these were “unnecessary allegations”. He said, “We could have done this before, or even during the election. We did not... it (the interrogation) was done only after the court’s permission.”
The federal investigation agency also emphasised that it was under no obligation to announce the start of an investigation against Kejriwal. “Suppose there is an inquiry... I don’t have to tell (Mr Kejriwal)... Who I have to tell is to the court — that I need custody. There is no mandate I have to tell the other side about my desire to investigate,” the CBI counsel said in court
Kejriwal was led from the courtroom to a nearby room for tea and biscuits after his sugar level dropped.