The Supreme Court has commenced hearings on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea for bail, challenging his arrest by the CBI in the excise policy case.
Kejriwal told the Supreme Court that the CBI did not arrest him for nearly two years in the alleged excise policy scam and an 'insurance arrest' was made on June 26 after he got bail in the "harsher" money laundering case filed by the ED.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, informed the bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan that that no notice was served to Kejriwal by the CBI before arrest and an ex-parte arrest order passed by the trial court.
He informed the court that Kejriwal was not named in the CBI FIR and emphasised that he poses no flight risk.
Singhvi highlighted that the Supreme Court had previously granted interim bail in a money laundering case and had ruled that Kejriwal was not a threat to society.
He noted that the situation, which began in August 2023, has now led to an arrest in March of the following year, despite both the Supreme Court and a trial court having already granted him bail.
The top court on August 23 allowed the CBI to file its counter affidavit in the matter and gave two days to Kejriwal to file a rejoinder.
Kejriwal has filed two separate petitions challenging the denial of bail and against his arrest by the CBI.
He has challenged the August 5 order of the Delhi High Court upholding his arrest, which said there was no malice in the act by the CBI which was able to demonstrate how the AAP supremo could influence witnesses.
The high court had asked him to move trial court for regular bail in the case.
On August 14, the SC refused to grant interim bail to Kejriwal and sought a CBI response.
The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution.
According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to licence holders.