Delhi HC dismisses Arvind Kejriwal’s plea: ‘Can’t say arrest was illegal’.

The high court also disposed of Arvind Kejriwal’s bail plea and granted him the liberty to approach the trial court.The Delhi high court on Monday dismissed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest and remand by the CBI in the Delhi excise policy case.In a big setback to Arvind Kejriwal, a bench, led by Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, observed that the arrest wasn’t without “justifiable reasons”.The judge said the CBI’s action can’t be termed illegal.“It cannot be said that the arrest was without any justifiable reasons or illegal,” the bench said.The high court also disposed of Arvind Kejriwal’s bail plea and granted him the liberty to approach the trial court.Arvind Kejriwal had moved the high court last month against his arrest and remand by the CBI. He had also sought regular bail.He had argued before the court that his arrest was illegal because it was against the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Arnesh Kumar vs State of Bihar and section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).The CBI arrested Kejriwal soon after he got bail in the ED’s money laundering case in connection with the Delhi excise policy cases. The court later put his bail order on hold.During later hearings, the CBI called Arvind Kejriwal the “sutradhar” or the facilitator of the scam. CBI’s lawyer DP Singh informed the court that the agency found more evidence against Arvind Kejriwal during the investigation.It submitted to the court that it was Kejriwal who signed the excise policy as the head of the cabinet, circulated it to his colleagues, and received their signatures within a single day.The CBI counsel further submitted that C. Aravind, an IAS officer under Manish Sisodia, testified that Vijay Nair brought a copy of the excise policy to be entered into the computer, and Arvind Kejriwal was present at that time. This fact, according to the CBI, indicated Kejriwal’s direct involvement in the matter. Kejriwal’s counsel, Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, claimed there was no direct evidence against Arvind Kejriwal. The CBI and ED have accused Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders of giving undue benefits to a group of businessmen and politicians in the now-scrapped Delhi excise police, in return for kickbacks.