On Thursday, a Delhi court extended Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s custody until August 8 in connection with an excise policy-linked money laundering case. The CBI had arrested the AAP national convener under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act).
The extension of Kejriwal’s judicial custody on July 12 came just hours after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail. The CBI had arrested the 55-year-old leader on June 26, and he has been in judicial custody in the ED case since March 31.
The CBI has accused the Delhi Chief Minister of being one of the primary conspirators in the irregularities related to the excise policy case. The agency claimed that Vijay Nair, the former media in-charge of AAP and a close associate of Kejriwal, had been in communication with several liquor producers and traders.
In the Delhi court, the investigating agency alleged that Vijay Nair demanded undue gratification to incorporate provisions favorable to the AAP in the excise policy since March 2021.
Additionally, the CBI alleged that ₹44.45 crore was transferred via ‘hawala channels’ to Goa from June 2021 to January 2022 and used in AAP’s assembly poll campaign. This sum was part of the ₹100 crore kickbacks received by AAP, according to the CBI’s previous chargesheet.
AAP leaders Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj, and Sandeep Pathak termed the Supreme Court’s interim bail verdict a “victory of truth.”
Meanwhile, BJP leader and New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj alleged that AAP was trying to “misguide” the people of Delhi.
“Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has been granted interim bail only because one point of law has been referred to the larger bench. The ED presented a detailed chargesheet in court a few days ago, which indicated that Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was the kingpin of the excise policy scam,” said Bansuri Swaraj.
