Big Supreme Court Relief For Arvind Kejriwal In Delhi Liquor Policy Case

The Supreme Court has granted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal bail in a money-laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate linked to the Delhi liquor policy. But Mr Kejriwal will remain in jail as he is currently being questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a separate case.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta delivered the judgment. Mr Kejriwal has suffered incarceration for over 90 days, the court said while granting him interim bail in excise policy case filed by ED.

The AAP the Supreme Court ruling saying “satyamev jayate” (Truth alone triumphs).

“Satyamev Jayate (truth alone triumphs)”, the party posted on X (formerly Twitter9 in Hindi along with a picture of Mr Kejriwal holding the national flag.

सत्यमेव जयते 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/dG5o2eHB0l

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) July 12, 2024

Mr Kejriwal, also the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, was arrested on March 21 by the ED in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.

In his petition, the 55-year-old had challenged the April 9 order of the Delhi High Court refusing to grant him relief.

The high court had upheld Mr Kejriwal’s arrest in the case, saying there was no illegality about it and that the central probe agency was left with “little option” after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation.

Both the ED and CBI is probing the money laundering angle in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy.

Under the excise policy, introduced in November 2021, the Delhi government withdrew from the retail sale of liquor and allowed private licensees to run stores. In July 2022, Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar flagged gross violations in the policy and alleged “undue benefits” to liquor licensees. The policy was scrapped in September that year.

The CBI has alleged that liquor companies were involved in framing the excise policy, which would have earned them a 12% profit. It said a liquor lobby dubbed the “South Group” had paid kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore to the AAP, part of which was routed to public servants. The Enforcement Directorate has alleged laundering of the kickbacks.