Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, has filed a plea with the Supreme Court on Wednesday asking to be released from custody in relation to the Delhi excise policy case, in which he is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The Delhi High Court’s August 5 ruling upholding Kejriwal’s arrest and refusing him bail was challenged in two distinct petitions that will be heard by a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan.
The leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has contested his arrest and the remand orders that followed, as well as asking for release, in a plea that was submitted two days after the top court granted bail to former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in a related investigation by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
In the Monday petitions, Kejriwal contested the August 5 ruling of the Delhi High Court, which held that the CBI had provided “evidently enough evidence” to support Kejriwal’s custody and remand, and so his arrest was neither unlawful nor without reasonable grounds.
His plea drew largely from the Sisodia ruling, wherein the Supreme Court ruled that the former deputy Chief Minister’s 17-month incarceration and his prolonged detention in a case with no prospect of trial ending anytime soon violated his fundamental constitutional right to liberty and a speedy trial.
In his plea, the AAP president claimed that Sisodia should be granted bail on the same terms that the court had decided were fair.
Kejriwal’s petition drew attention to the Supreme Court’s findings in the Sisodia case, which stated that extended detention without charge or trial may violate an accused person’s fundamental rights, especially when the investigation is almost finished and the person is well-established in the community, decreasing the likelihood of an escape. In his application, Kejriwal contended that, like Sisodia, he satisfies these requirements and ought to be released on bail for the same reasons. The petition gains significance in light of the assembly elections in Delhi early next year.
Kejriwal is the most well-known leader of the party and the incumbent chief minister, hence his presence is essential to the AAP’s campaign plan. The AAP has continuously positioned itself as a champion of Delhi’s government under Kejriwal’s leadership, emphasising topics like inexpensive water and power, healthcare, and education.
With the exception of a 21-day temporary release given by the highest court in May so that he may campaign for the Lok Sabha election, Kejriwal has been detained since his arrest by the ED on March 21. In the ED case, the supreme court acknowledged that he had been detained for more than ninety days and granted him temporary bail on July 12. Nevertheless, he remained detained because the CBI had arrested him on June 26 in connection with the same case.
The CBI started looking into the claims of anomalies in Delhi’s now-canceled excise policy of 2021–2022 in July 2022, on the lieutenant governor of Delhi’s recommendation. This led to the case against the chief minister. In this regard, Kejriwal was the third AAP leader to be arrested. After serving six months in jail, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh was granted bail by the highest court in April. Sisodia was imprisoned from February 2023 till his release on August 9.
