A Delhi court that on Wednesday sent Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody for three days after it arrested him in connection with the excise policy case said that while the arrest may not be illegal, the CBI shouldn’t be “overzealous”.
The 18-page order passed by special judge Amitabh Rawat said, “Investigation is the prerogative of the investigating agency. There are certain protections provided in the law and at this stage, on the material on record, it cannot be said that the arrest is illegal.”
“The agency, however, should not be overzealous,” it added.
The court allowed Kejriwal’s lawyer and wife to collectively meet him for an hour every day between 6pm and 7pm. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief will also be provided a medically prescribed diet or home-cooked food in police custody along with prescribed medicines as well as glucometer during the remand.
Kejriwal’s counsel, Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhari, said that it was not necessary to arrest him at this stage and questioned the timing of the arrest. He said that the CBI had questioned him for nine hours in April last year.
“This case is pending since August 2022. I was called as a witness… I appeared and, for nine hours, I assisted. Not a single notice (from the CBI) since then. How did they shift from a witness to an accused… it is a long distance to cover,” the counsel argued.
The CBI pointed out it was not bound to announce the start of an investigation. “Suppose there is an inquiry… I don’t have to tell (Mr Kejriwal)… Who I have to tell is to the court – that I need custody. There is no mandate I have to tell the other side about my desire to investigate,” its counsel said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Kejriwal on March 21. The Supreme Court granted an interim bail to the Delhi CM from May 10 till 1 June to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.
Last week, Kejriwal was granted bail by a trial court, but it was swiftly stayed by the Delhi High Court through an interim order before a detailed order on Tuesday. The same day, he was questioned by the CBI at Tihar Jail.
After the High Court upheld the stay on his bail order, Kejriwal withdrew his appeal challenging the stay before the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Simultaneously, he was produced before judge Rawat and was arrested by the CBI inside Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court.
During the hearing, Kejriwal rebutted the CBI’s claim that he had shifted the entire blame in the excise policy case on his former deputy Manish Sisodia.
“Manish Sisodia is innocent, AAP is innocent, I am innocent. Their aim is to malign us through the media,” he said.
However, the court disagreed with the CBI’s claim that Kejriwal placed the “entire onus” of the alleged privatisation issue on Sisodia. The court said, “We have read the statement made by him. Kejriwal has not made any such statement.”
The court also made it clear that Kejriwal only mentioned that privatisation was not his idea and the CBI’s claim was “wrongly perceived”.
