The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday, August 14, sought a response from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by August 23 and refused interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal in the alleged excise policy scam case.
The top court issued notice to the CBI on the pleas of Kejriwal seeking bail and challenging the Delhi High Court order upholding his arrest by the central probe agency in a corruption case stemming from the alleged excise policy scam.
A bench of justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice to the CBI on the plea filed by Kejriwal against the Delhi High Court order upholding his arrest by the probe agency. "We are not granting any interim bail. We will issue notice," the bench told senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal.
The Delhi High Court had on August 5 upheld the arrest of the chief minister as legal, and said there was no malice in the acts of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which demonstrated how the AAP supremo could influence witnesses who could muster the courage to depose only after his arrest.
The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving the formulation and execution of the excise policy. According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to licence holders.