Nearly three months after he was arrested by Enforcement Directorate in connection with alleged nexus in the infamous Delhi excise policy case, Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal has been granted regular bail by a court in Delhi. The court directed him to pay 1 lakh as a surety before getting the bail.
Meanwhile, the ED requested the court to give 48 hours time to accept the bail bond so that it can challenge the decision in the high court. However, the judge informed that there was no stay on the bail order. The court said that the counsel of Arvind Kejriwal can apply for bail bond tomorrow before the concerned judge.
During the hearing, the central financial crime-fighting agency had sought to link Arvind Kejriwal to the alleged proceeds of crime and co-accused, while the defence had claimed the prosecution has no evidence to arraign the AAP leader in the now-scrapped excise policy.
The ED submitted that on November 7, 2021, during the assembly poll campaign in Goa, Kejriwal stayed at the Grand Hyatt hotel, with the bill paid by Chanpreet Singh, who is alleged to have managed the AAP funds in the coastal state.
Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on March 21, less than three weeks before the country was heading for the parliamentary elections. On May 10, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to him till June 1 for campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections. He returned to jail on June 2nd.
The Aam Aadmi Party launched an aggressive ‘Jail ka Jawab Vote Se’ campaign during the elections and Kejriwal, who was out on an interim bail, repeatedly claimed in his rallies and roadshows that he won’t have to stay in jail if the opposition INDIA bloc comes to power. While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was able to retain the power for a successive third term.
ED has alleged that kickbacks received from liquor sellers were used to fund the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) electoral campaign in Goa and Kejriwal being the National Convenor of the party is liable for the offence of money laundering.
Kejriwal has denied the allegations and has accused the ED of running an extortion racket.Other AAP leaders arrested in the same case include former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia and Member of Parliament Sanjay Singh.
BRS leader and former MP Kavitha Kalvakuntla, who was also arrested in this case, is currently languishing in the jail.
