CBI Gets 3-Day Custody of Kejriwal in Excise Policy Case

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Wednesday, was sent to three-day custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the alleged excise policy scam case. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday formally arrested Kejriwal in the Delhi excise policy case and sought five-day custody of the AAP national convener.

The AAP leader was arrested on March 21 by the ED and granted regular bail by the trial court on June 20. In its bail order, the trial court held that prima facie Kejriwal's guilt was yet to be established and that the ED had failed to furnish direct evidence linking him to the proceeds of crime in the money laundering case. 

The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution. According to the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), irregularities were committed while modifying the policy and undue favours were extended to the licence holders. 

Entire System Ensuring Kejriwal Doesn't Come out of Jail, Claims Wife Sunita

After Kejriwal was arrested by the CBI, his wife Sunita, on Wednesday, alleged that the entire system was trying to ensure that her husband does not come out of jail and that this is akin to "dictatorship" and "emergency." The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused the BJP of getting Kejriwal arrested in a "fake case" by the CBI. The CBI on Wednesday formally arrested Kejriwal in the Delhi excise policy case and sought five-day custody of the AAP national convener. 

In a post on X in Hindi, Sunita said her husband got bail on June 20 in the excise policy-linked money laundering case but the Enforcement Directorate (ED) immediately got a stay. "The very next day, the CBI made him an accused. And today he was arrested. The whole system is trying to ensure that the man does not come out of jail. This is not the law. This is dictatorship, this is emergency," she said.

AAP Condemns Kejriwal's Arrest

"The CBI took Kejriwal ji to Rouse Avenue Court where his blood sugar level dropped very low. Dictator, no matter how much oppression you inflict, Kejriwal will neither bow down nor break," said AAP in a post on X in Hindi.

Kejriwal is CM Not A Terrorist or Criminal, Says Sanjay Singh

"Kejriwal is a chief minister, he is not some terrorist or criminal. Four charge sheets were filed by the CBI but there was no mention of Kejriwal. When do they remember him? When he is about to be freed. The whole country knows what is happening," AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said.

Singh said there cannot be a bigger emergency than this. He said, "The arrest was made after the trial court granted bail to Kejriwal and it had to get the Supreme Court's stamp of approval. Then they remembered to arrest Kejriwal," he told reporters outside the Rouse Avenue court. 

"When the matter was pending before the Supreme Court, the CBI moved to arrest him in a false case. There can not be a bigger emergency than this," he added. The AAP MP said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP are playing a "dirty game" and the people of the country know what is going on.

"I want to tell the prime minister and the BJP that you have imposed an Emergency. You can shoot us in public, the whole country is watching your dirty game," he said. Singh said some news channels were claiming that Kejriwal had put the entire blame on his former deputy Manish Sisodia. "Our lawyers and Kejriwal opposed this in court. The judge read Kejriwal's statement and accepted that he did not say anything like this," he added. (with PTI inputs)