Arvind Kejriwal arrest: Court tells CBI to not be ‘overzealous’ | 10 points

A Delhi court on Wednesday sent chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to the CBI’s custody for three days, hours after he was arrested by the agency in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.

Special judge Amitabh Rawat said Kejriwal was being sent to the agency’s custody because of the “factum of the investigation leading to the arrest of the accused, the role ascribed to him, and the necessity to confront him with the evidence”. He also advised the agency to not be “overzealous”.

The court refused to declare the arrest illegal. It said the timing of the action could have been ‘circumspect” but it can’t be the sole criterion for declaring the arrest against the law.

Here’s what transpired during Arvind Kejriwal’s hearing.

The judge said an investigation is the prerogative of the CBI, but there are certain safeguards provided in the law. He based his verdict on the material placed on record and said the arrest can’t be termed illegal at this stage of the case. “The agency, however, should not be overzealous,” the judge cautioned.

The judge ordered the authorities to medically examine Kejriwal and allow him to meet with his wife and lawyer daily.

The CBI’s action came days after the Delhi high court stayed the bail granted to the AAP chief by the trial court.

Per the CBI, Kejriwal allegedly asked the then YSRCP Lok Sabha MP, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, to provide “monetary funding to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)” while assuring support for the liquor business in the national capital.

It called him one of the main conspirators behind the irregularities linked to the now-scrapped excise policy 2021-22.

“Arvind Kejriwal….is one of the main conspirators of the criminal conspiracy in the commission of offenses herein (referring to excise policy). It has been revealed that Vijay Nair (former media in-charge of AAP), a close associate of Kejriwal, was contacting various liquor manufacturers and traders and demanding undue gratification since March 2021, for incorporation of provisions favourable to them in the upcoming Delhi excise policy 2021-22,” the CBI said.

The agency further said AAP received ₹100 crore as kickbacks. It said the party funneled ₹44.45 crore for the Goa election campaign.

Claiming innocence, Arvind Kejriwal said the CBI had been trying to sensationalise the issue.

“It is being run in the media through CBI sources that I have a statement putting the entire blame on (former Delhi deputy chief minister) Manish Sisodia. I have not given any such statement that Sisodia or anyone else is guilty. I have said Sisodia is innocent, the AAP is innocent, I am innocent. Their entire plan is to defame us in the media. Please record that all these have been run in the media through CBI sources,” Kejriwal told the court.

The CBI, responding to Kejriwal’s charge, said no source had said anything. The agency’s lawyer said he was arguing the case based on facts.