"Are You Going To Arrest Arvind Kejriwal Again?" High Court To Probe Agency

The matter of bail for Arvind Kejriwal saw a perplexed Delhi High Court asking the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday whether it intended to arrest the Delhi chief minister again. 

During a hearing on the Enforcement Directorate (ED's) petition challenging a trial court order granting bail to Mr Kejriwal, who is in jail after being arrested by the CBI in a case related to the alleged liquor policy scam, Delhi High Court judge Justice Neena Bansal remarked, "I am confused. What do you want to do? Are you going to arrest him again?" 

Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court had granted bail to Mr Kejriwal in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case against the AAP chief connected to the alleged scam on June 20, but the order was stayed by the high court. 

In July, the Supreme Court granted Mr Kejriwal interim bail in the ED case but he has remained in jail because he was also arrested by the CBI.

During Wednesday's hearing, Advocate Vivek Gurnani appeared for the ED and requested Justice Bansal to hear the petition tomorrow or on some other date because Additional Solicitor General SV Raju was busy with another matter. While the judge noted that Mr Kejriwal had already been granted bail by the Supreme Court, Mr Kejriwal's lawyer, Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhari said that the case was one of "sheer persecution". 

The court initially passed over the matter for later in the day, meaning it would be heard after a few other cases on the docket, and then adjourned the hearing till September 5. 

The Case 

Under the excise policy, introduced in November 2021, the Delhi government withdrew from the retail sale of liquor and allowed private licensees to run stores. In July 2022, Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar flagged gross violations in the policy and alleged "undue benefits" to liquor licensees. The policy was scrapped in September that year.

The CBI has alleged that liquor companies were involved in framing the excise policy, which would have earned them a 12% profit. It said a liquor lobby dubbed the "South Group" had paid kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore to the AAP, part of which were routed to public servants. The Enforcement Directorate has alleged laundering of the kickbacks.

The AAP has dismissed all the charges and dubbed Mr Kejriwal's arrest a conspiracy by the BJP, which has hit back and said the kickbacks were used by the AAP to fund its election campaigns.