Delhi court sends Arvind Kejriwal to 14-day judicial custody

Samad Hoque

New Delhi, June 29

A Delhi court on Saturday sent Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to 14-day judicial custody in a corruption case linked to the excise policy “scam” after the CBI chose not to seek his further police remand.

Kejriwal was produced before Vacation Judge Sunena Sharma by the CBI after the end of his three-day custodial interrogation, following which the central agency sought 14-day judicial custody. Kejriwal is also under judicial custody in a money laundering case linked to the alleged scam which is also being probed by the Enforcement Directorate. The ED had arrested him on March 21.

On behalf of Kejriwal, senior counsel Vikram Chaudhari opposed the CBI’s judicial remand application, citing prolonged investigation (which began in August 2022) and the 21-day interim bail granted by the Supreme Court on May 10 to campaign in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. Kejriwal had surrendered before the Tihar Jail authorities on June 2.

Meanwhile, Chaudhari had moved an application seeking to call upon the CBI to place on record the material, including the case diary, collected against the Delhi CM. He submitted that the application was moved to assist the court.

During the hearing, the judge said the court must oversee the steps taken by the investigating officer (IO) during police custody, but the material related to the probe could not be disclosed to the accused. The court must satisfy itself about the need for remand, the judge said.

Once police custody expires, the court had no choice but to remand the accused to judicial custody, the court said. The accused could apply for bail as per procedure, but there was no provision requiring the court to reject the IO’s application for judicial remand, the court added.

Chaudhari stated that a submission was made before the Supreme Court stating that the investigation would conclude by July 3. He requested that the court to hold the IO accountable to this timeline, so he could argue the matter in any forum.

The court said any failure to adhere to the stated timeline for concluding the investigation would provide grounds for seeking bail, but it would not prevent the granting of judicial custody.