CBI obtains sanction to prosecute Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi excise policy case

The agency has filed the sanction in the Rouse Avenue court. The CBI has filed a supplementary charge sheet against him.

The Supreme Court has postponed the hearing on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's bail plea and his challenge against the Delhi High Court's decision supporting his arrest in the alleged excise policy scam. The new hearing date is set for September 5.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan posted the matter on September 5 for hearing and granted one-week further time to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a reply in one of the pleas.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for CBI, sought time to file an affidavit in one of the petitions and submitted that the agency had filed an affidavit in the other petition.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, told the bench that the affidavit was filed on Thursday night at 8 pm with a deliberate design that the same wouldn't reach the bench.

The affidavit filed by the CBI in one of the petitions stated that Kejriwal is politically sensationalising the case and he has been involved in the criminal conspiracy in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy.

On August 5, the Delhi High Court upheld the arrest of the Chief Minister as "legal.". It had dismissed Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest, saying it was only after sufficient evidence was collected and sanction was obtained in April 2024 that the CBI proceeded with further probes against him.

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21, 2024, in connection with a money laundering probe relating to alleged irregularities in the now-cancelled Delhi excise policy 2021-22.

On June 26, 2024, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief was arrested by the CBI while he was in custody of the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi excise policy case. (ANI)