The Supreme Court will hear the bail petition of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been jailed for the last six months in the alleged liquor policy scam. Two months ago, the chief minister was granted bail ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections. 

Today, the top court will hear two petitions by the the AAP chief. Last week, in the final hearing before the court withdrew to decide, Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Mr Kejriwal, pointed out his client had already satisfied the ‘triple test’ legal principle for bail, since the same court had given him bail in the ED case.

The CBI, on the other hand, has repeatedly pointed to what it believes is a mountain of evidence against Mr Kejriwal, most of which is drawn from testimony of ‘approvers’, i.e., former accused who have been pardoned, or will receive lesser sentences, for testifying against him.

Here are the LIVE updates in Arvind Kejriwal’s bail petition:

New Delhi:

Bail or no bail? That is the question the Supreme Court will answer this morning as it rules on a plea by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal following his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation in June, in the alleged liquor excise policy scam.

Should it rule in his favour, Mr Kejriwal will be released nearly six months after he was first arrested – by the Enforcement Directorate – and two months after getting bail for that arrest.

The Aam Aadmi Party boss could not leave then – on July 12 – as he had been arrested by the CBI just a few weeks earlier, after the ED dropped its challenge, in connection with the same case.

In various forums since, including in the Supreme Court in this round of petitions, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Mr Kejriwal criticised that second arrest as an “insurance”, arguing it was designed to keep the AAP leader in jail, and his party on edge, before February’s Delhi election.

Last week, in the final hearing before the court withdrew to decide, he pointed out his client had already satisfied the ‘triple test’ legal principle for bail, since the same court had given him bail in the ED case.

READ | Big Supreme Court Relief For Arvind Kejriwal In Delhi Liquor Policy Case

The CBI has repeatedly pointed to what it believes is a mountain of evidence against Mr Kejriwal, most of which is drawn from testimony of ‘approvers’, i.e., former accused who have been pardoned, or will receive lesser sentences, for testifying against the Chief Minister.

The agency, like the ED, believes Mr Kejriwal played a key role in drafting and clearing the controversial November 2021 liquor excise policy, which was withdrawn eight months later.

The court, though, waved away an appeal by the CBI – that releasing Mr Kejriwal now, after he had been denied relief by the High Court – would “demoralise” that forum. “Don’t say that…” a bench of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Surya Kant, who will deliver today’s verdict, had said.

READ | “Don’t Say…”: Top Court On CBI’s Argument Against Bail For Kejriwal

It did, however, express concern over agencies seeming to rely on ‘approvers’ to make their case; in releasing Telangana politician K Kavitha, another accused in this case, it noted “You have to be fair… a person who incriminates himself is made a witness? What is this fairness?”

READ | “What Is This ‘Fairness’?” Top Court To Agencies In Liquor Policy Case

The run-up to this verdict has also seen the Supreme Court highlight the ‘bail is the rule, jail is the exception’ principle, laid down in 1977 by Justice Krishna Iyer, in connection with other cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, under which Mr Kejriwal faces charges.

The court has previously also reasoned that provisions for bail in the PMLA – under Section 45 of the law, which sets out two additional conditions for release – cannot overturn the primacy of an individual’s right to liberty. The note has been interpreted by many to mean there can be no argument to deny bail to a money-laundering accused, assuming other conditions are met.

After Singh, Sisodia, Kavitha, Next Kejriwal?

If he does get bail now, Mr Kejriwal will be the fifth, and most high-profile, opposition leader to leave jail after being arrested in this case. Three of those released so far are his former deputy, Manish Sisodia, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, and K Kavitha. The fifth was AAP leader Durgesh Pathak.

The three big names were released by the Supreme Court, which noted, in each case that authorities could not hold accused persons in prison indefinitely and without trial; in Mr Sisodia’s case last month the court called out the “travesty of justice” and flagged violation of a citizen’s right to liberty.

READ | “Travesty Of Justice”: Sisodia Gets Bail, Supreme Court Slams Delay

In April, while releasing Mr Singh, the court asked the arresting agency, the ED, why he had been jailed for six months without a trial and also pointed out it had failed to recover any of the Rs 2 crore he allegedly received as a bribe.

READ | “Just Because Woman Is Educated…”: Top Court As K Kavitha Gets Bail

Also last month, while releasing Ms Kavitha, the Supreme Court, once again, observed the Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader could not remain in jail if “likelihood trial in near future is impossible”.

Delhi Liquor Policy Case Explained

The Delhi liquor excise policy case involves allegations that Mr Kejriwal and the AAP received kickbacks of Rs 100 crore, including significant payments from a ‘South group’ led by Ms Kavitha, for allotment of wholesale licences. The ED and CBI believe this money was then used by the AAP to fund election campaigns, including that for the 2022 Goa Assembly election.

NDTV Explains | In Liquor Case, 193 Cr Profits, Kickback For AAP, Says ED, CBI

Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP, and Ms Kavitha and her party, the BRS of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, have denied all charges, and counter-accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, to whom federal agencies like the ED and CBI report, of mounting a campaign against its critics and opposition leaders, particularly before elections.

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New Delhi:

A Delhi court on Wednesday extended till September 25 the judicial custody of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam. Mr Kejriwal was produced before the Rouse Avenue Court through video conferencing from Tihar Jail upon the expiry of previously granted judicial custody. In a brief hearing, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) assured the court it would supply the soft copy of the charge sheet to the accused and would provide the hard copy within 3-4 days.

Taking cognisance of the charge sheet filed by the CBI, Special Judge Kaveri Baweja of the Rouse Avenue Court, last week, issued a production warrant for Mr Kejriwal on September 11.

Earlier, the CBI had filed its supplementary charge sheet before a court here against the Delhi Chief Minister and other accused persons in the corruption case linked to the alleged excise policy scam.

The Supreme Court is yet to pronounce its verdict on Mr Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest by CBI and seeking bail in the corruption case.

On September 5, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan reserved its decision after hearing the oral arguments advanced by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, and Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, who appeared on behalf of the CBI.

During the hearing, Mr Singhvi contended that the CBI did not arrest Mr Kejriwal for two years but made an “insurance arrest in a hurry” to prevent his release in the money laundering case.

Mr Singhvi added that Mr Kejriwal, a constitutional functionary holding the position of Delhi Chief Minister, satisfied the triple test for grant of bail.

“He is not a flight risk, he will turn up to answer the questions of the investigative agency, and cannot tamper with documents, running into lakhs of pages, and digital evidence after two years,” he submitted.

On the other hand, the central agency said that the release of Mr Kejriwal would turn many witnesses “hostile” and urged the Supreme Court to not release him on bail.

ASG Raju said that many candidates of the AAP in the Goa Assembly election came forward to give their statements to the central agency only after Mr Kejriwal was arrested. “They (witnesses) will turn hostile if your lordships release Kejriwal on bail,” he said.

He argued that Mr Kejriwal’s plea for bail should be remanded back to the trial court and he should not have petitioned the Delhi High Court for bail in the first instance.

The ASG submitted that arrest is a part of investigation and ordinarily, an investigating officer will not require any permission from a court to make an arrest. “But, in the present case, there was an order of the court granting the power (to arrest),” he said. He added that when an arrest is made pursuant to an order of the court, an accused cannot take a plea of violation of fundamental rights.

In his special leave petition filed before the Supreme Court, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor challenged his arrest and subsequent remand orders while also pressing for bail in the corruption case. On the other hand, seeking dismissal of Mr Kejriwal’s plea, the CBI said that the AAP chief was simply attempting to politically sensationalise the matter, despite repeated orders passed by various courts being prima facie satisfied with the commission of the offences, for which cognisance already has been taken.

The Supreme Court, on July 12, ordered Mr Kejriwal to be released on interim bail in connection with the money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). However, he was not able to walk out of jail since he was arrested by the CBI.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the CBI and ED on BRS leader K Kavitha’s pleas seeking bail in corruption and money laundering cases linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. A bench of justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan agreed to hear Ms Kavitha’s pleas challenging the Delhi High Court’s July 1 verdict denying her bail in these cases.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Ms Kavitha, told the bench that she has been in custody for around five months and the chargesheet and prosecution complaint have been filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) respectively.

A prosecution complaint is the ED’s equivalent of a chargesheet.

Mr Rohatgi said there were around 500 witnesses in both these cases.

Contending that she was entitled to bail, Mr Rohatgi referred to the Supreme Court’s verdict and order passed on the pleas filed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia.

The top court had granted interim bail to Mr Kejriwal in the money laundering case linked to the alleged scam. Mr Sisodia was granted bail in both the corruption and money laundering cases linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

Mr Rohatgi said Ms Kavitha’s case was covered by these orders of the top court.

“We will issue notice,” the bench said.

“May I pray for interim bail,” Mr Rohatgi said.

The bench observed, “Not without hearing them (CBI and ED)”.

The bench then issued notices to the CBI and the ED seeking their responses on Ms Kavitha’s pleas and posted the matter for hearing on August 20.

The high court had on July 1 dismissed Ms Kavitha’s bail pleas in both the cases, saying she was prima facie one of the main conspirators in the criminal conspiracy related to the formation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.

The CBI and the ED have lodged separate cases pertaining to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and implementation of the policy.

The ED arrested Ms Kavitha (46) from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad on March 15. The CBI arrested her on April 11 in connection with the corruption case linked to the alleged scam.

Ms Kavitha has denied the allegations.

While dismissing her bail pleas, the high court had said no case for grant of regular bail was made for now as the investigation is at a crucial stage.

It had rejected her plea for relief on the grounds of being a woman, saying as a well-educated person and a former MP, she cannot be equated to a vulnerable female, and the court cannot lose sight of the “serious allegations” against her.

This “court is of the opinion that K Kavitha was prima facie one of the main conspirators in the criminal conspiracy hatched in relation to formulation and implementation of Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22,” the high court had said.

In the high court, Ms Kavitha had challenged the May 6 order of a trial court which had dismissed her bail applications in the CBI’s corruption case as well as the ED’s money-laundering case.

Before the high court in the ED case, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader, daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, had said she had “nothing to do” with the excise policy and there was a criminal conspiracy against her “orchestrated by the ruling party at the Centre with the active connivance of the ED”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will today challenge the Delhi High Court’s stay on the bail granted to Arvind Kejriwal in the Supreme Court. This decision comes after the trial court had previously granted bail to Mr Kejriwal on June 20 in connection with the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, only for the High Court to stay the bail order on Tuesday.

The trial court, in its June 20 decision, had ordered Mr Kejriwal’s release on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh. However, a vacation bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain of the Delhi High Court stayed the trial court’s order, criticising it for not adequately considering the material presented by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and for not allowing the sufficient opportunity for the agency to argue its case.

High Court’s Criticism

Justice Jain remarked that the trial court had failed to properly evaluate the evidence against Mr Kejriwal presented by the ED. “We disagree with the Delhi High Court order. We will challenge it in the Supreme Court,” AAP said in a statement. 

Delhi Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, when asked about the High Court’s decision at a press conference, expressed skepticism and indicated that AAP’s legal team would strategise the next steps. “A High Court bench stayed the order of the lower court without even the order getting uploaded. I did not have any hope from the High Court. I think the High Court bench was prejudiced. We will approach the higher court,” Mr Bharadwaj said.

The Delhi excise policy, which was scrapped in 2022, has been under scrutiny following allegations of irregularities and corruption in its formulation and execution. Both the CBI and ED allege that undue favours were extended to license holders and that there were significant irregularities in the policy’s implementation.

AAP’s Response

Mr Kejriwal was questioned by the CBI in Tihar Jail on Monday and Tuesday, each session lasting over an hour.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh accused the BJP of conspiring with CBI officers to allegedly frame Mr Kejriwal in a “fake case.” In a video message, Mr Singh alleged that the BJP-led Centre was attempting to manipulate the legal process to target Mr Kejriwal.

“We have learnt from reliable sources that the BJP-led Centre has hatched a conspiracy with CBI officers at a time when there is a huge possibility of Kejriwal getting bail from the Supreme Court. They have planned to frame him in a fake case by the CBI and get him arrested. The entire country is watching the atrocities of the BJP. How will one get justice in such circumstances? People will stand up against this,” Mr Singh said.

New Delhi:

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation twice this week in the alleged liquor policy case. Mr Kejriwal was questioned on Monday by the central probe agency and then again on Tuesday in the Tihar jail for more than an hour.

The Aam Aadmi Party chief is currently in jail in connection with an Enforcement Directorate’s money laundering case arising from the alleged liquor policy case. The Delhi liquor policy 2021-22 was scrapped after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution.

The questioning of Mr Kejriwal comes just a day ahead of a Supreme Court hearing of the AAP petition against the Delhi High Court order staying the bail granted to the Chief Minister by a trial court.

The trial court had granted bail to Mr Kejriwal on June 20 and ordered his release on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh. The high court stayed the trial court order on Tuesday, saying the Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court – “didn’t apply its mind” when granting bail and pointed to what it said were lapses in judgement.

The AAP, meanwhile, alleged a conspiracy involving CBI officers to frame Mr Kejriwal in a “fake case” and get him arrested. The CBI has rejected the accusations.

The Enforcement Directorate or ED had arrested Mr Kejriwal on March 21, shortly after the Delhi High Court refused to grant him protection from arrest on his petition challenging summonses issued to him.

On May 10, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Mr Kejriwal till June 1 to campaign in Lok Sabha elections, saying he will have to surrender and go back to jail on June 2. He has been in jail ever since.

The ED and the CBI have alleged the Delhi government’s liquor policy for 2021-22 allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who paid bribes for licenses. The AAP has strongly denied the charge.

New Delhi:

Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia approached the high court on Thursday seeking bail in the corruption and money-laundering cases lodged by the CBI and the ED respectively in relation to the alleged excise policy scam. The bail pleas are scheduled for hearing before Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma on Friday.

Sisodia approached the high court after a trial court refused to grant him bail in the matter on April 30.

The bail pleas were mentioned by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader’s counsel before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet P S Arora for an urgent hearing, which agreed to list the same for Friday.

“Let the judge go through the file. So let it come tomorrow,” the bench said.

Advocates Rajat Bhardwaj and Mohammad Irshad, representing Sisodia, told the bench that the petitioner is an MLA and requested that both the pleas seeking bail be listed for an urgent hearing.

The trial court had dismissed Sisodia’s bail pleas in the corruption and money-laundering cases lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) respectively in connection with alleged irregularities in the formulation and execution of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2021-22.

The beneficiaries diverted “illegal” gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection, the probe agencies have alleged.

The special judge had, in the April 30 order, denied the relief, saying the stage is not right to grant bail to Sisodia.

The AAP leader was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023 for his alleged role in the “scam”. The ED arrested the former deputy chief minister in a money-laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9, 2023.

Sisodia resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023.

The high court had dismissed Sisodia’s bail pleas in the CBI and ED cases on May 30 and July 3 last year respectively.

On October 30, 2023, the Supreme Court also refused to interfere with the high court’s verdict, saying the allegation by the probe agencies that “windfall gains” of Rs 338 crore were made by a few wholesale liquor distributors was “tentatively supported” by material and evidence.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi on Monday reserved the order on the bail plea moved by Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha in connection with CBI case related to the Excise Policy case.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja on Monday fixed May 2 for pronouncement of order in the matter.

The plea further stated that the ruling party at the Centre is using investigative agencies to publicly connect the petitioner to the Delhi Excise Policy so that further coercive actions can be taken against her. The investigating agencies are well aware that there is no substance in the allegation of the petitioner’s involvement in the alleged scam. The intention behind the purported investigation against the petitioner is not to ascertain her involvement in the alleged scam, since it is painfully clear that none exists.

The political masterminds are well aware that if the petitioner can be connected to the alleged scam, it will bring her, and by logical implication, her father, the erstwhile Chief Minister of Telangana, into disrepute. The political mileage gained from such actions can be used in the general elections scheduled for 2024. This is the sole and singular motive of the purported investigation. This is political propaganda at its shameful lowest, even by the not-so-high standards in Indian politics, stated bail plea.

BRS leader K Kavitha was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last week. She was arrested by CBI while in judicial custody in the ED case.

Advocate Nitesh Rana, along with Deepak Nagar and Mohit Rao, appeared for the K Kavitha in the matter.

Earlier, the CBI remand application stated that “Kavitha Kalvakuntla was required to be arrested in the instant case to conduct her custodial interrogation for confronting her with the evidence and witnesses to unearth the larger conspiracy hatched among the accused, suspect persons regarding the formulation and implementation of the Excise Policy, as well as to establish the money trail of ill-gotten money generated and to establish the role of other accused/suspect persons, including public servants, as well as to unearth the facts which are in her exclusive knowledge.”

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) arrested K Kavitha, MLC, Telangana Legislative Council, on March 15, in the case of the alleged liquor policy scam.

The CBI inquiry was recommended based on the findings of the Delhi Chief Secretary’s report filed in July showing prima facie violations of the GNCTD Act 1991, Transaction of Business Rules (ToBR)-1993, Delhi Excise Act-2009, and Delhi Excise Rules-2010, officials said.

The ED and the CBI had alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the excise 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 officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection, the probe agencies said.

As per the allegations, the Excise Department had decided to refund the earnest money deposit of about Rs 30 crore to a successful tenderer against the set rules.

Even though there was no enabling provision, a waiver on tendered licence fees was allowed from December 28, 2021, to January 27, 2022, due to COVID-19, the probe agency said adding that there was an alleged loss of Rs 144.36 crore to the exchequer.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)