Supreme Court upholds legality of Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest by CBI, grants conditional bail

On Friday (September 13), the Supreme Court of India granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the liquor policy case.

The development came more than three months after he surrendered to the authorities in Tihar Jail. The court observed that the arrest of the Delhi Chief Minister was valid and there was no question of illegality on the part of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Arvind Kejriwal was granted bail after the Supreme Court observed that the trial was unlikely to be completed in the near future. On the other hand, the CBI had opposed the bail application citing the possibility of tampering with evidence.

Major relief for Arvind Kejriwal, gets bail in Delhi Liquorgate case #SC #ArvindKejriwal #KejriwalBail Session #ITVideo #IndiasAgenda | @srishtiojha11 @Nalinisharma_ @snehamordani photo.twitter.com/66FCdrscR5

— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) September 13, 2024

The central agency demanded that the matter be heard in the court. It is to be noted that Arvind Kejriwal did not appear before the lower court and had directly approached the Delhi High Court.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court ruled that Arvind Kejriwal had met all the conditions to secure bail. However, the Delhi CM has been ordered to appear before the court, surrender his passport and refrain from making public statements on the case.

This is a setback as Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders had planned to use the liquor policy in Delhi for their political feud ahead of the Haryana and Delhi elections.

Kejriwal is also not allowed to leave the country. All restrictions imposed on him when he was granted interim bail in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case will continue to apply to him.

However, no conditions have been set that would prevent Kejriwal from taking over as Delhi Chief Minister.

Delhi Liquor Policy Fraud Case

At the centre of the controversy is Delhi’s excise policy for 2021-22, which is explained in 10 simple points.

• The liquor policy was first proposed in September 2020, but did not come into effect until November 2021.
• It changed the way alcohol was sold in the national capital, introducing private players into the market and marking the departure of government-run liquor vendors.
• Delhi was divided into 32 zones and a total of 27 private vendors were said to be operating in each zone. Each municipal ward had 2-3 liquor vendors operating in the area.
• Proposals such as home delivery of liquor, allowing liquor vendors to give unlimited discounts and opening shops till 3 am were also placed before the Delhi Cabinet.
• The drastic policy change resulted in a 27% increase in government revenue to ₹8,900 crore. At the same time, it marked the complete exit of the Delhi government from the liquor industry.
• While the aim of the Excise Policy 2021-22 was to end black marketeering and liquor mafia, the Delhi government soon came under fire over allegations of corruption.
• Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar found irregularities and procedural lapses in the new liquor policy. Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena ordered a CBI inquiry on the recommendation of Naresh Kumar.
• Manish Sisodia has waived ₹144.36 crore in licence fees payable by private liquor vendors on the pretext of Coronavirus pandemic. Has incurred losses in the Excise Department and favoured liquor licensees by waiving the import pass fee of ₹50 per case of beer.
• All these changes were made without the final approval of the Lieutenant Governor and are therefore considered illegal under the Delhi Excise Rules, 2010 and the Transaction of Business Rules, 1993.
• For example, in July 2022, the Delhi government took a U-turn in its new excise policy. A month later, CBI booked Manish Sisodia, former CEO of Only Much Louder (OML) Vijay Nair and 13 others in an FIR for irregularities in the implementation of Delhi’s excise policy for 2021-22.