NEW DELHI: The Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi on Saturday sent Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to judicial custody till July 12 in connection with the excise policy case. The vacation judge Sunena Sharma sent Arvind Kejriwal to judicial custody till July 12.
Advocate D P Singh appeared for CBI while seeking direction to send Arvind Kejriwal into judicial custody and alleged that during the police custody remand, the accused Arvind Kejriwal been examined/interrogated. However, Kejriwal did not cooperate with the investigation and deliberately gave evasive replies contrary to the evidence on record. On being confronted with the evidence, he did not give a proper and truthful explanation regarding the enhancement of the profit margin for wholesalers from 5 per cent to 12 per cent under the new Excise Policy of Delhi 2021-22, without any study or justification, said CBI.
#WATCH | Delhi: CM Arvind Kejriwal brought to Tihar Jail as the CBI gets Judicial Custody till July 12 in a case linked to the Excise Policy matter pic.twitter.com/6ZSKjMePZ5
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Kejriwal also could not explain as to why during the peak of 2nd wave of Covid, the Cabinet approval for a revised excise policy was obtained through circulation in hurried manner within 01 day, when the accused persons of the South Group were camping in Delhi and holding meetings with his close associate Vijay Nair. He evaded the questions regarding the meetings of his associate Vijay Nair with various stakeholders of the liquor business in Delhi and demanded illegal gratification from them for favorable provisions in the upcoming Excise Policy, CBI added.
He also evaded questions regarding the transfer and utilization of ill-gotten money to the tune of Rs 44.54 crore in the Goa Assembly elections by his party during 2021-22, said CBI. In the light of aforesaid facts and circumstances, the further custodial interrogation of the accused Arvind Kejriwal is not required at this stage, said CBI.
The CBI alleged that he was deliberately and intentionally evading the just and relevant questions related to the case. He, being a prominent politician and Chief Minister of Delhi, is a very influential person, as such, there are credible reasons to believe that, he may influence the witnesses and evidence already exposed before him during the custodial interrogation and also the potential witnesses, who are yet to be examined, tamper with the evidence to be further collected and may hamper the ongoing investigation, CBI added.
The vacation judge, on June 26, had sent Arvind Kejriwal to three days in CBI custody. On Saturday, Kejriwal was produced by CBI at the end of their remand period. Sunita Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh, Dilip Pandey, Samantha Bharti, Saurabh Bharadwaj, and Madan Lal were present in the courtroom.
On the last date of the hearing, Arvind Kejriwal himself addressed the court and said, “CBI is claiming that I have made a statement against Manish Sisodia which is completely false. Manish Sisodia Nirdosh hai, Aam Aadmi Party Nirdosh hai aur main bhi nirdosh hun. Iss Tarah ke statements hamme media me badnam Karne ke liye diye ja rahe hai”.
He also added that “CBI sources ke hawale se media me hamme badnam kar rahe rahe hai. Inka plan hai ki media front page ye chala de ki Kejriwal ne sara thikra Manish Sisodia pe daal diya”. However, the court said, “apki statement maine pad liya hai… apne aisa nahi bola hai”. (ANI)