Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Judicial Custody Extended
New Delhi, July 12: The Rouse Avenue Court has extended the judicial custody of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal until July 25 in the Delhi excise policy case. Earlier, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in a related Enforcement Directorate (ED) case.
Details of the Court Proceedings
Special Judge Kaveri Baweja extended Kejriwal’s custody, who appeared via video conferencing from Tihar Jail. The court directed the ED to provide a copy of the supplementary charge sheet to Kejriwal’s counsel and other accused. National Secretary Pankaj Gupta and an official representative of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) appeared in court. Accused Vinod Chauhan was also present, while Ashish Mathur was granted bail on a bond of Rs 1 lakh.
Supplementary Charge Sheets
On July 9, the court acknowledged the supplementary charge sheets against Kejriwal, AAP, Vinod Chauhan, and Ashish Mathur. These are the seventh and eighth supplementary charge sheets in the money laundering case linked to the Delhi Excise policy. The ED filed a supplementary prosecution complaint against Kejriwal and AAP on May 17, and another against Chauhan and Mathur on July 1.
Allegations and Evidence
The ED arrested Kejriwal on March 21. ASG SV Raju opposed his bail, citing evidence that Kejriwal demanded a Rs 100 crore bribe for the AAP’s Goa election campaign. It was argued that Rs 45 crore was sent by Vinod Chauhan to Chanpreet Singh through hawala dealers. The ED presented evidence of these transactions, including call records, IT data, and witness statements.
ASG’s Submissions
ASG SV Raju stated that Kejriwal was in touch with Vinod Chauhan and that Rs 1 crore was recovered from Chauhan. Section 70 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) applies to Kejriwal as he is in charge of AAP, which is considered a company under this section.
