CBI Stands for ‘No Bail’ to Arvind Kejriwal, Dubs Him the Brain Behind Affair of Criminal Liquor Policy Lately, the CBI firmly rejected the bail application of Delhi’s Chief Minister Mr Arvind Kejriwal who was termed as the ‘sutradhar’ meaning mastermind of the scripted mechanism known as the liquor policy scandal. The CBI asserted that to allow the investigation of the scam, Kejriwal had to be arrested citing him as an important person in the alleged fraud.
The preparation for Kejriwal’s arrest followed by the Bail Controversy
Arvind Kejriwal who is the chief minister of Delhi and also the national convenor for AAP was arrested by ED on 21 rd of March in connection with a money laundering case of the recently infamous liquor policy scam. Due to his arrest by the CBI, in a connected case even though he is out on interim bail granted by the Supreme Court.
CBI’s counsel Advocate DP Singh submitted before the Delhi High Court that merely filing a chargesheet is not sufficient to deny the accused, Kejriwal, of his right to bail. He underlined that even AAP leader Manish Sisodia and Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha who are co-accused in the case were also granted bail.
CBI’s Allegations Against Kejriwal
CBI said that Kejriwal had formed the policy in a hurry as he is the leader of the cabinet and distributed the policy amid the second wave of COVID-19 in the nation. The agency says disgruntled persons in the so-called ‘South Group’ hired private airplanes to the national capital for meetings over the policy.
The CBI said they have enough direct evidence against Kejriwal and also claimed that even though a chargesheet has been filed for the offense in question, the accused should not be released on bail.
Mitigating Circumstances by A. K SHARMA, Counsel for AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal
Counsel for Kejriwal, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi submitted that the arrest was made only to purportedly give ‘Insurance arrest’ after grant of bail in the money laundering case. Singhvi relied on the Supreme Court case in Satender Antil’s case and pointed out that non-observance of arrest provisions is enough for the accused to ask for bail.
Singhvi also contended that there is not an iota of proof against Kejriwal, no articles were recovered from him, and that the de facto complainant relied solely on the mother of the child, the entire case being based on regurgitated pieces of evidence. He said that the policy was passed through the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) and about 49 officials, who were members of nine committees of nine bureaucrats and had spent a year studying the policy.
Singhvi explained that the Chief Minister was not the only actor, pointing out that, In total, nine committees and at least 50 bureaucrats participated actively. It was also a signed policy by the Lieutenant Governor. In other words, both Kejriwal and the L-G cleared it, Singhvi said in his observations.
Singhvi said the CBI has been resorting to assumption and hearsay to nail Kejriwal, which is not how criminal responsibility is determined.
CBI’s Rebuttal
In response, the CBI’s counsel argued that this recipe was overstated and wanted to mislead people stating that the L-G had little role in it. They also again clarified that they have documentary as well as oral shreds of evidence which puts Chief Minister Kejriwal in the scam.
Conclusion
Litigation concerning the role of Arvind Kejriwal in the scandal behind the liquor policy remains an open case, where both sides seemed to have put up a strong case. Since the case unfolds, the ruling on Kejriwal’s bail will become the key factor for the subsequent actions in this profiled case.
To get more specific news regarding to Delhi liquor policy scam and other similar news, you can continue to visit adityasinghtharran.com.
