New Delhi: The Supreme Court has granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money-laundering case linked to the Delhi liquor policy, filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Despite the bail, Mr. Kejriwal will remain in jail as he is also under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a separate case.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta delivered the judgment, noting that Mr. Kejriwal has been incarcerated for over 90 days. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief was arrested on March 21 by the ED in connection with the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam. He had petitioned against the Delhi High Court’s April 9 order that denied him relief.
The high court had upheld Mr. Kejriwal’s arrest, stating that there was no illegality in the arrest and that the central probe agency was left with “little option” after he repeatedly skipped summonses and refused to join the investigation. Both the ED and CBI are investigating the money laundering aspects of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy.
The excise policy, introduced in November 2021, saw the Delhi government withdraw from the retail sale of liquor, allowing private licensees to run stores. However, in July 2022, Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar flagged gross violations in the policy and alleged “undue benefits” to liquor licensees, leading to its scrapping in September that year.
The CBI has alleged that liquor companies were involved in framing the excise policy, which would have provided them a 12% profit. It claimed that a liquor lobby, known as the “South Group,” paid kickbacks amounting to ₹100 crore to the AAP, some of which were routed to public servants. The Enforcement Directorate has alleged laundering of these kickbacks.
