Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in the alleged liquor scam, has received a major setback. The Supreme Court has refused to grant interim bail to Kejriwal. This means that apart from Independence Day, Kejriwal will have to remain in jail on the festival of Rakhi as well. Along with challenging the arrest in the CBI case, the CM has also sought bail. He has already got interim bail in the ED case.
Kejriwal’s arrest was upheld by the Delhi High Court and he was allowed to go to the trial court for bail. The Delhi Chief Minister challenged the High Court’s decision in the Supreme Court. A bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice Ujjwal Bhuiyan heard the petitions of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The bench told senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Kejriwal, “We are not granting any interim bail. We will issue notice.” The next hearing of the case will now be held on August 23.
what did the high court say
On August 5, the Delhi High Court had upheld the Chief Minister’s arrest as valid and said that there was no malice in the action of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The High Court had said that the Chief Minister’s arrest cannot be said to be without any justifiable reason or illegal. The court had also said that Kejriwal is not an ordinary citizen but a Magsaysay Award winner and the convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party. The court said, ‘His control and influence over the witnesses is prima facie evident from the fact that these witnesses could muster the courage to testify only after the arrest of the petitioner, as has been revealed by the special prosecutor.’
What is the claim of liquor scam
The Chief Minister of Delhi was arrested in the alleged liquor scam. Central investigative agencies CBI and ED have described him as the mastermind of this alleged scam. It is alleged that the liquor policy made in Delhi in the financial year 2021-22 unfairly benefited the liquor businessmen and bribes were taken from them in return. ED and CBI claim that the Aam Aadmi Party also used the bribe money in the election campaign. However, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Delhi government have rejected the allegations of the investigating agencies saying that the entire case is false.
