New Delhi:

The Supreme Court has granted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal bail in a money-laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate linked to the Delhi liquor policy. But Mr Kejriwal will remain in jail as he is currently being questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a separate case.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta delivered the judgment. Mr Kejriwal has suffered incarceration for over 90 days, the court said while granting him interim bail in excise policy case filed by ED.

The AAP the Supreme Court ruling saying “satyamev jayate” (Truth alone triumphs).

“Satyamev Jayate (truth alone triumphs)”, the party posted on X (formerly Twitter9 in Hindi along with a picture of Mr Kejriwal holding the national flag.

सत्यमेव जयते pic.twitter.com/dG5o2eHB0l

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) July 12, 2024

Mr Kejriwal, also the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, was arrested on March 21 by the ED in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.

In his petition, the 55-year-old had challenged the April 9 order of the Delhi High Court refusing to grant him relief.

The high court had upheld Mr Kejriwal’s arrest in the case, saying there was no illegality about it and that the central probe agency was left with “little option” after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation.

Both the ED and CBI is probing the money laundering angle in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy.

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 was routed to public servants. The Enforcement Directorate has alleged laundering of the kickbacks.

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday posed a key question to the Enforcement Directorate as it heard Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea against his arrest in the alleged liquor policy scam. The court asked the central agency, “If there is evidence that points towards guilt… and other that points towards innocence… can you selectively pick?”

“Is this an administrative task? You need to strike a balance between the two. You cannot exclude one aspect. You are depriving a person of their right to life,” Justice Dipankar Datta, part of a two-judge bench that includes Justice Sanjiv Khanna, said.

In a potentially key moment today, the court also asked Additional Solicitor General SV Raju – appearing for the Enforcement Directorate – why it had taken the central agency two years to act against the “political executive” – referring to the Chief Minister and his party. 

“…issue is that it has taken two years for this. It is not good for any investigating agency to say that it takes two years to unearth… now when will the trial start? From one stage to the other… from initiation of proceedings to arrest…” the court asked the ED.

The court also asked the ED why it was that “no question was asked about him (Mr Kejriwal)”, prior to summons being issued and his arrest, during the course of its investigation. “… only issue is why did you not ask and why you were delaying?”

“If I start asking about Arvind Kejriwal at the outset… it would have been called ‘malafide’…” Mr Raju responded, adding, “It takes time to understand… we can’t put it overnight. Things have to be confirmed.”

Earlier Mr Raju had recounted statements of approvers – i.e., ex-accused-turned-government witnesses – and declared “there is not a single statement exonerating” the AAP boss in this case. Mr Raju’s emphatic statements were meant to counter arguments by Mr Kejriwal’s camp – that the Chief Minister had not been named in initial witness records.

The AAP leader’s camp had pointed out the agency had argued – even as late as March 16, five days before his arrest – that Mr Kejriwal had not been listed as an accused. 

Appearing for Mr Kejriwal, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi also pointed out that “all evidence on which I am arrested is pre-2023… every material is as on July 2023…”

In the previous hearing the bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta had indicated it could consider grant of temporary bail to the Aam Aadmi Party leader to allow him to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha election.

Delhi’s seven Lok Sabha seats – all won by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2019 election – go to the polls on May 25. Acknowledging the time-consuming nature of these proceedings, the court had expressed its willingness to hear arguments from both sides for grant of bail.

New Delhi:

Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia, arrested in the Delhi liquor policy case in February last year, on Tuesday told a Delhi court hearing his bail petition that no purpose will be served by keeping him in jail any further.

The former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi told Special Judge MK Nagpal that the investigation against him in the Enforcement Directorate’s money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam was already complete and there was no possibility of him hampering the probe or destroying evidence.

He also told the judge that he was ready to abide by any condition imposed by the court if it decides to grant him bail.

Mr Sisodia is currently lodged in Tihar jail.

Earlier, the court had sent him to judicial custody after the ED submitted that the case was at a crucial stage and if released, the accused might hamper the investigation.

The ED’s case is based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the excise policy.

The CBI had registered the case alleging that irregularities were committed while modifying the Delhi liquor policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced, and the L-1 licence was extended without the competent authority’s approval.

The beneficiaries diverted “illegal” gains to the accused and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection, according to the CBI.

The agency arrested Mr Sisodia in February 2023 and he was later taken into custody by the ED from Tihar jail.

Following his arrest, Mr Sisodia resigned as the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Delhi minister and AAP leader Kailash Gahlot has been called for questioning by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged money laundering case linked to the Delhi liquor policy. Mr Gahlot is currently the minister for home, transport, and law in the Delhi government.

Mr Gahlot has already reached the probe agency’s office.

The summons come just days after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested in the case.

ED sources say Kailash Gahlot has been asked to appear for questioning in the case and getting his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped.

The ED claims the policy provided an impossibly high profit margin of nearly 185 per cent for retailers and 12 per cent for wholesalers. Of the latter, six per cent – over Rs 600 crore – was recovered as bribes and the money was allegedly used to fund the Goa and Punjab poll campaigns, the agency claims.

Three top Aam Aadmi Party leaders including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have been arrested in the Delhi liquor policy case. The other two are AAP MP Sanjay Singh and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

K Kavitha, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, is also in jail.

New Delhi:
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will today make a big revelation in the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam today, his wife claimed. Mr Kejriwal is currently in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate.

Here are 10 facts on this big story:

New Delhi:
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has planned a protest in the national capital today against the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a corruption case linked to the Delhi liquor policy.

Here are the top 10 updates on this big story

New Delhi:

Arvind Kejriwal’s wife and a former IRS officer, Sunita Kejriwal, today read out a message from the Delhi Chief Minister who has been arrested in a corruption case linked to the Delhi liquor policy. In the message, Mr Kejriwal urged everyone to continue working for the society and not hate anyone, even those from the ruling BJP which the Aam Aadmi Party allege are misusing the probe agencies. 

“Continue working for the society. Do not hate the people from BJP. They are all our brothers and sisters,” Sunita Kejriwal said reading out the AAP leader’s message.

“There are several forces within and outside India that are weakening the country. There is no jail that can keep him behind bars for long. I will come out soon and keep my promises,” the Delhi Chief Minister added in his message.

देशवासियों के लिए जेल से अरविंद केजरीवाल का संदेश। https://t.co/Q9K6JjSjke

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 23, 2024

The AAP chief also assured that he has always fulfilled his promises, and assured women in Delhi about the implementation of a scheme that will provide an honorarium of Rs 1,000 per month to eligible beneficiaries.

“Whether inside or outside, every moment of my life is dedicated to serving the country. Every drop of my blood is dedicated to the country,” Mr Kejriwal said in his message.

He added that he was born for struggles and is destined for bigger challenges in future as well.

Mr Kejriwal also asserted that India has to be shaped into the strongest and greatest country in the world. There are internal and external forces that are trying to weaken the country and these need to be fought, he said.

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested Thursday evening hours after the Delhi High Court refused to grant him protection from arrest. A team of 12 officials rushed to his residence, where they questioned him, seized documents and other materials, and then, at 9 pm, arrested the three-time Chief Minister.

Mr Kejriwal has been arrested in the Delhi liquor policy scam case; the central agency has accused the AAP leader of being a “conspirator”. The ED believes the now-scrapped policy provided an impossibly high profit margin of nearly 185 per cent for retailers and 12 per cent for wholesalers.

The AAP has insisted that Mr Kejriwal will function as the head of government, even if it meant doing so from inside jail.

New Delhi:

The Enforcement Directorate today claimed that they have uncovered a money trail showing that the Aam Aadmi Party received kickbacks worth Rs 100 crore in the Delhi liquor policy case. The probe agency told the court that Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, was the ‘kingpin’ in the corruption case.

The ED’s case is that the Delhi liquor policy 2021-22 provided an exceptionally high-profit margin of 12 per cent for wholesalers and nearly 185 per cent for retailers. A key focus of the investigation into the Delhi liquor policy case was on an alleged network of middlemen, businessmen and politicians which the central agencies have called the “South Group”.

Here are the claims made by the probe agency in court today:

– Arvind Kejriwal is the ‘Kingpin’ and key conspirator in the case. “He is directly involved in the implementation of the policy and giving favour to the South group,” Additional Solicitor-General SV Raju, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, said.

– Arvind Kejriwal demanded Rs 100 crore from some accused from ‘South group’ for Punjab elections, ED tells court while seeking his custody.

– The Delhi Chief Minister acted as a ‘middleman’ between South Group and the accused in the liquor case, the agency alleged.

– Proceeds of crime is not only the Rs 100 crore bribe received but also the profits made by the bribe payers – it was over Rs 600 crore the probe agency told court.

– “Rs 45 crores received from the South group were used by Aam Aadmi Party in the Goa campaign in 2021-22,” Mr Raju said.

– The money came to Goa through 4 routes, the agency said hinting at a hawala.

New Delhi:

“I told him many times to avoid liquor, but he made the policy for more money.” This is one of many scathing remarks by social activist Anna Hazare on the arrest of his former mentee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in the liquor policy case. While several opposition leaders have come out in support of Mr Kejriwal, Anna Hazare has said that the Aam Aadmi Party shouldn’t have made the liquor policy.

“I am very saddened, that a man like Arvind Kejriwal, who used to work with me and had raised his voice against liquor, today he is preparing liquor policy,” he said.

“But what can be done? Whatever happens now should happen according to the law,” the activist added.

#WATCH | Ahmednagar, Maharashtra: On ED arresting Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Social activist Anna Hazare says, “I am very upset that Arvind Kejriwal, who used to work with me, raise his voice against liquor, is now making liquor policies. His arrest is because of his own deeds…” pic.twitter.com/aqeJEeecfM

— ANI (@ANI) March 22, 2024

Anna Hazare was the face of the anti-corruption movement in 2011, from which the AAP emerged. At the time, while choosing to stay out of the party — avoiding electoral politics — he gave it his “blessings”. But he has since criticised the party on several points. Mr Kejriwal and his party have avoided direct counters.

The ED’s case is that the Delhi liquor policy 2021-22 provided an exceptionally high-profit margin of 12 per cent for wholesalers and nearly 185 per cent for retailers. Of the 12 per cent, 6 per cent was to be recovered from wholesalers as kickbacks for AAP leaders, and the “South Group” allegedly gave Rs 100 crore in advance to another accused, Vijay Nair, who was linked to the AAP.

Mr Hazare has in the past too spoken against the policy. he had written a letter to Arvind Kejriwal in 2022 expressing his “pain” over the policy.

“This is the first time I am writing to you since you became chief minister, because I am pained at recent news reports about your government’s liquor policy. Like liquor, power too intoxicates. You are intoxicated by power, it seems,” Anna Hazare had written in the letter to Mr Kejriwal.

Arvind Kejriwal will continue as the Delhi Chief Minister despite the arrest, AAP has asserted. Mr Kejriwal, sources said, will now approach a trial court against the arrest, in accordance with protocol. The Chief Minister – who spent the night at the ED’s office on Delhi’s Abdul Kalam Road – will also be produced before a special court that deals with the probe agency’s cases.

New Delhi:

The Aam Aadmi Party has made it clear that Arvind Kejriwal will remain the Delhi Chief Minister despite his arrest in the liquor policy case. While no law would stop the AAP leader from running the state from prison, the jail guidelines would make it extremely difficult.

A former law officer of Delhi’s Tihar Jail says that an inmate can only hold two meetings in a week, which would make it difficult for Mr Kejriwal to carry out his responsibilities as Chief Minister.

“Running a government from jail is not straightforward. The jail manual states that you can meet your family, friends, or associates only twice a week. So it will not be easy for him to govern with these restrictions,” Sunil Gupta tells NDTV.

But the official says there is one way that Mr Kejriwal could carry on as Chief Minister. The Lieutenant Governor has the power to convert any building into a prison, and if Mr Kejriwal can convince him to put him under house arrest – it would help him be a part of the Delhi government’s day-to-day functioning.

“The Administrator has the authority to declare any building as a jail,” Mr Gupta elucidated, drawing parallels with past instances where court complexes were designated as temporary jails. Such measures, he suggested, could potentially facilitate Arvind Kejriwal’s governance from within confinement.

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren — who was arrested in January in connection with an alleged land scam — was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate after he met the Governor and stepped down from the post. The Chief Minister’s post was handed over to party leader Champai Soren.

In 1998, when Lalu Prasad Yadav, then Chief Minister of Bihar, got arrested in the fodder scam case, he handed over his charges to his wife Rabri Devi.

Mr Kejriwal was arrested after he skipped summons for questioning for a ninth time in the liquor policy case and the Delhi High Court refused to grant him protection from arrest.

After Mr Kejriwal’s arrest on Thursday, AAP’s Atishi, who is currently number 2 in the Delhi government, said that there will be no change in the party’s leadership.

“Arvind Kejriwal is and will remain the Chief Minister of Delhi… there are no two ways about it,” said Atishi.

But sources say the Union Home Ministry is examining the ramifications of Mr Kejriwal not resigning. Legal experts said the Centre may have to suspend or remove him from the post since he is a public servant. This is also the procedure that is followed for government officials who are arrested. They are immediately suspended from service, sources said.

The scrapped excise policy, introduced to bring an overhaul to the national capital’s liquor business, promised a more modern shopping experience with discounts and offers. However, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena’s order to investigate alleged irregularities prompted the policy’s cancellation.

The ED’s case is that the Delhi liquor policy 2021-22 provided an exceptionally high-profit margin of 12 per cent for wholesalers and nearly 185 per cent for retailers. Of the 12 per cent, 6 per cent was to be recovered from wholesalers as kickbacks for AAP leaders, and the “South Group” allegedly gave Rs 100 crore in advance to another accused, Vijay Nair, who was linked to the AAP.

A key focus of the investigation into the Delhi liquor policy case was on an alleged network of middlemen, businessmen and politicians which the central agencies have called the “South Group”.

Two prominent AAP leaders, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, are already under judicial custody in connection with the case. Mr Sisodia, the former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26 last year, while Mr Singh, a Rajya Sabha member, was arrested by the ED on October 5.