Supreme Court Grants Interim Bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal
The Aam Aadmi Party chief was arrested on March 21 by the ED concerning the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.
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The Supreme Court of India has finally granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money-laundering case related to the Delhi liquor policy.
Despite this, Mr. Kejriwal will remain in jail as he is currently being questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in another case.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta noted that Mr. Kejriwal had been imprisoned for over 90 days.
Kejriwal had challenged the Delhi High Court's order, which denied him bail stating that the ED had no option after he repeatedly skipped summons and refused to cooperate with the investigation.
Government agencies ED and CBI are investigating the money-laundering case of the Delhi liquor policy, involving Arvind Kejriwal and other prominent leaders.
In July 2022, Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar underscored significant violations in the policy, alleging undue benefits to liquor licensees.
Introduced in November 2021, the policy allowed private licensees to operate liquor stores, however, the policy was scrapped in September 2022.
The CBI claims liquor companies were involved in drafting the excise policy to secure a 12% profit margin, with a liquor lobby, known as the "South Group," allegedly paying Rs 100 crore in illegal payment to the Aam Aadmi Party, part of which was paid to public officials. The ED has alleged these kickbacks were laundered.
Following which,the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Arvind Kejriwal on March 21 for the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.
