NEW DELHI, Aug 23: The Supreme Court on Friday deferred till September 5 hearing on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s pleas seeking bail and challenging the arrest by the CBI in the alleged excise policy scam. A bench of justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan allowed the CBI to file its counter affidavit in the matter and gave two days’ time to Kejriwal to file a rejoinder.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, said the CBI filed a counter affidavit in only one of the pleas and it was served upon them at 8 pm on Thursday. ASG SV Raju said they will file the counter in another plea in one week. The bench then posted the matter for further hearing on September 5. On August 14, the top court refused to grant interim bail to Kejriwal in the case and sought a response from the probe agency on his plea challenging his arrest. Kejriwal was arrested by the CBI on June 26.
The chief minister, who was arrested by the ED on March 21, was granted bail by the trial court in the money laundering case on June 20. However, the trial court’s order was stayed by the high court. On July 12, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in the money laundering case. The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution. According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to licence holders.
