The Delhi High Court on Monday rejected Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's bail plea and dismissed his challenge against the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrest in the ongoing alleged liquor policy scam. The court directed Kejriwal to seek relief from the trial court before pursuing further legal options.
Sources within the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have indicated that Kejriwal plans to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. The Chief Minister, who was first arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in March—just weeks before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections—has now spent a total of 115 days in jail. This detention follows the Supreme Court’s grant of regular bail on July 12, which pertained to his arrest by the ED, not the CBI.
The CBI had arrested Kejriwal in June, shortly after Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court had granted bail for his arrest by the ED. The Supreme Court had later upheld this bail decision.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, criticized the CBI's case, describing it as based on hearsay and alleging that the federal agency is attempting to implicate the Chief Minister through "presumptions and hypothesis." Singhvi questioned the CBI's focus on AAP's ₹4 crore spending on publicity, contrasting it with the potentially larger expenditure by the ruling party. He argued that there is no direct evidence or recovery and reiterated that Kejriwal meets the criteria for bail—he is not a flight risk, nor is he likely to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses.
Singhvi characterized Kejriwal's arrest as an "insurance arrest" and emphasized that despite securing bail three times in connection with the ED case, there has been no substantial confrontation or new developments since the CBI's involvement.
In response, the CBI stated that it had traced a financial trail amounting to ₹44 crore related to the case. The agency’s lawyer revealed that this money was purportedly directed to Goa, with Kejriwal allegedly instructing his candidates not to worry about the funding and to focus on their elections.
The legal battle continues as Kejriwal's team prepares to escalate the matter to the Supreme Court, amid ongoing scrutiny and contention surrounding the case.