CBI examines Arvind Kejriwal in Tihar jail; SC to hear plea against stay on bail

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday examined Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in Tihar jail and recorded his statement in connection with the excise policy case.

The probe agency has also reportedly received permission to produce Kejriwal before its trial court on Wednesday ahead of the Supreme Court’s hearing on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo’s plea against the stay on his bail.

Here are the top updates on Arvind Kejriwal:

The Supreme Court will hear Arvind Kejriwal’s plea against the stay on his bail on Wednesday. A trial court had granted bail to the AAP chief.

According to the Delhi high court, the previous trial court’s observation that the voluminous material presented by the ED could not be considered, was “totally unjustified.” “Observation by the trial court that voluminous material cannot be considered is totally unjustified, and it shows that the trial court has not applied its mind to the material,” the court said.

While passing the order, Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain of the Delhi High Court’s vacation bench said that the trial court did not properly appreciate documents and arguments.

Reacting to the high court’s order, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said it is “very unusual” that the Delhi HC stayed the court order granting bail to Kejriwal without reading the order of the trial court.

Meanwhile, as Kejriwal will be produced before the CBI court ahead of the top court’s hearing, the probe agency officials said that they are likely to officially arrest Kejriwal in the case today, reported news agency ANI, citing CBI sources.

Shortly after the CBI examined Kejriwal in Tihar jail, the AAP alleged that the BJP-led union government and the CBI are “conspiring” to register a fake case against the Delhi CM ahead of a court hearing. “At a time when there is a cent per cent possibility that Arvind Kejriwal will get bail from the Supreme Court, sources have informed me that the Centre is conspiring to register a fake CBI case against the Delhi CM and get him arrested by the CBI…The entire nation can see this and is standing in solidarity with Arvind Kejriwal,” AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said.

Singh also claimed that the Centre’s alleged actions are driven by the possibility that the Supreme Court might grant Kejriwal bail.

Meanwhile, AAP’s lawyer Rishikesh Kumar wrote on X: “The dirty tricks of the Modi government fears the release of Arvind Kejriwal by SC has asked the CBI to make arrest in the same matter almost a year after he joined the investigation. What it shows nothing changed the vindictive mindset of BJP. Shame.”

Delhi BJP president Virendraa Sachdeva suggested that AAP leaders Saurabh Bharadwaj, Atishi, and Sanjay Singh question the Congress party instead of BJP, saying that the case on which the CBI is working was lodged by the Congress. “CBI has already interrogated Arvind Kejriwal in this case. Manish Sisodia has also been arrested by the CBI in the same case… Saurabh Bharadwaj, Atishi, and Sanjay Singh should question Congress because the case on which the CBI is working was lodged by the Congress. They should ask Rahul Gandhi why they did not withdraw their complaint when they formed an alliance for the elections. Does Sanjay Singh want investigative agencies to work according to him?” he told ANI.

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED in the excise policy case on March 21. The top court granted him interim bail on May 10 to participate in the election campaigning and directed him to surrender by June 2. Following this, on June 20, the trial court granted him regular bail, which was stayed by the HC on June 21, even before the bail order was out.