Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been granted bail by a Delhi court on June 20 in connection with a money laundering case tied to the 2021-22 Delhi Excise policy. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Arvind Kejriwal, alleging he was the ‘kingpin’ behind the scam.
Vacation judge Niyay Bindu at Rouse Avenue Court issued the bail order. The ED’s request to delay the bail for 48 hours was denied. Kejriwal’s bail bond will be presented to the duty judge on June 21.
The ED argued against Arvind Kejriwal’s bail, suggesting that kickback money funded his stay in a seven-star Goa hotel. Kejriwal’s lawyer, Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhary, countered that the ED’s allegations lacked a money trail and were based on hypotheses.
Kejriwal was initially arrested on March 21 and spent several weeks in jail before being released by the Supreme Court to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. He returned to jail on June 2 after being denied further relief by the apex court.
The case stems from a CBI FIR initiated on the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi’s complaint, citing irregularities in the excise policy, which was later scrapped. The ED claims the illicit earnings were funnelled through “hawala” channels for the AAP’s Goa election campaign in 2022. The case has led to multiple arrests, including those of former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and AAP MP Sanjay Singh.
