Delhi High Court Notifies CBI on Arvind Kejriwal’s Plea Against Arrest in Liquor Policy Case

On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court issued a notice regarding Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest and the three-day remand by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a corruption case linked to an alleged liquor policy scam.

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna has asked the CBI to respond and scheduled the next hearing for July 17.

Kejriwal is also seeking his immediate release from custody in the corruption case.

Kejriwal argues that his arrest did not follow the legal requirements under Sections 41A and 60A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which are necessary for offenses punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Senior Advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and N Hariharan, along with Advocate Vivek Jain, represented Kejriwal in court. Special counsel DP Singh appeared for the CBI.

Singhvi argued that there was no urgency or necessity for Kejriwal’s arrest, noting that the FIR was registered by the CBI in August 2022, and Kejriwal had cooperated when called for questioning in April last year.

He also pointed out that the arrest memo prepared by the CBI did not meet the legal conditions.

Kejriwal is currently in judicial custody for corruption and money laundering charges related to the alleged scam.

On June 26, vacation judge Amitabh Rawat remanded Kejriwal to CBI custody for three days, stating that the arrest could not be deemed illegal at this stage. However, the judge cautioned the CBI against being overzealous.

Later, on June 29, vacation judge Sunena Sharma remanded Kejriwal to judicial custody as the CBI did not request further remand.

Last week, the CBI questioned Kejriwal in Tihar jail, where he is being held in judicial custody for a money laundering case investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Kejriwal’s statement was recorded just hours after the Delhi High Court stayed the bail granted to him in the PMLA case.

With the court’s permission, the CBI questioned Kejriwal in court on June 26 before formally arresting him.

Kejriwal was initially arrested by the ED on March 21. In May, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail until June 1 due to the general elections. He surrendered on June 2.