Delhi High Court Dismisses Arvind Kejriwal’s Bail Plea and Challenge to CBI Arrest

New Delhi:

The High Court of Delhi on Monday declined Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s request for release and simultaneously rejected a challenge to his detention by the CBI in the alleged alcohol policy scandal.

The court ordered the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party to first seek relief from the trial court.

Initially apprehended by the Enforcement Directorate in March, weeks before the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Mr. Kejriwal has now spent 115 days in confinement. This is notwithstanding the Supreme Court granting ordinary bail on July 12. However, that was for his detention by the ED and not by the CBI.

The CBI detained Mr. Kejriwal in June, days after the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi granted bail – in a ruling subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court – for his detention by the Enforcement Directorate.

During the previous month, senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi, representing Mr. Kejriwal, criticized the CBI’s case against his client as rumors and suggested that the federal agency is attempting to implicate the Chief Minister using “assumptions and hypotheses”.

“They mention AAP spending Rs 4 crore on publicity. I am curious about the amount of money the ruling party has allocated for publicity. I wonder if CBI will pose this question to them. Currently, there is no direct evidence, no recovery. It’s all rumors,” he stated.

Mr. Singhvi asserted that the AAP leader meets the three criteria for bail – he is not a flight risk, he is unlikely to tamper with evidence, or influence witnesses.

He reiterated that Mr. Kejriwal’s detention is a “precautionary arrest”. “I have received bail three times, in one way or another, in the ED case. Since I was detained by the CBI, there has been no confrontation, nothing.”

Meanwhile, the CBI stated that they have traced the financial transactions in the case and it amounted to Rs 44 crore.

“This money was transferred to Goa. Kejriwal himself instructed his candidates not to be concerned about the money, and to contest elections,” the agency’s lawyer mentioned.