A Delhi court on Thursday extended the judicial custody of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation till August 8, PTI reported.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is looking into allegations of corruption against Kejriwal in the Delhi liquor policy case, while the Enforcement Directorate is investigating money-laundering allegations linked to the same matter.
On July 12, the Supreme Court granted Kejriwal interim bail in the case filed against him by the Enforcement Directorate in the matter. However, Kejriwal remained in jail as he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the same case on June 25.
On Thursday, the court also extended the judicial custody of Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia, Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha and the other persons accused in the liquor policy case till July 31, PTI reported. The accused persons were produced in the court through video conferencing.
The Enforcement Directorate had arrested Kavitha in Hyderabad in March. She was later remanded to judicial custody, after which the Central Bureau of Investigation also arrested her in April.
Sisodia, named as a key conspirator in the case, has been in jail since February 2023, when he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation. On March 9, 2023, the Enforcement Directorate arrested the former deputy chief minister in the same case. He is in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
The Enforcement Directorate is investigating allegations of money laundering in the liquor policy case based on a first information report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The two central agencies have alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government had modified Delhi’s now-scrapped liquor policy by increasing the commission for wholesalers from 5% to 12%. This allegedly facilitated the receipt of bribes from wholesalers who had a substantial market share and turnover.
The Enforcement Directorate has alleged that Kavitha, among others, conspired with senior Aam Aadmi Party leaders, including Kejriwal and Sisodia, to secure favours in the formulation and implementation of the policy.
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