New Delhi: While the arrest may not be illegal, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) shouldn’t be “overzealous”, a Delhi court said Wednesday, as it sent Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to CBI custody for three days in the excise policy case.
The 18-page order passed by special judge Amitabh Rawat said, “Investigation is the prerogative of the investigating agency. There are certain protections provided in the law and at this stage, on the material on record, it cannot be said that the arrest is illegal.”
“The agency, however, should not be overzealous,” it added.
The court directed that Kejriwal’s lawyer and wife may collectively meet him for an hour every day from 6pm to 7pm, and that he be provided with a medically prescribed diet or home-cooked food in police custody. He is also to be provided with prescribed medicines as well as glucometer during the remand.
Arrested in the case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 21 March, Kejriwal was granted interim bail briefly by the Supreme Court on 10 May till 1 June, to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. He was then granted bail by vacation judge Niyay Bindu last week, but it was swiftly stayed by the Delhi High Court through an interim order Friday, and a detailed order Tuesday. The same day, he was questioned by the CBI at Tihar Jail, where he is lodged in judicial custody.
While his appeal against the Delhi HC stay was to come up before the Supreme Court Wednesday, he was produced before judge Rawat and was arrested by the CBI inside Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court.
During the hearing, Kejriwal also addressed the CBI court personally, rebutting CBI’s claim that Kejriwal had shifted the entire blame in the excise policy case on his deputy Manish Sisodia.
“Manish Sisodia is innocent, AAP is innocent, I am innocent. Their aim is to malign us through the media,” he said.
Agreeing with him, the judge orally acknowledged that he has read Kejriwal’s statements and the latter has not made any such allegation, according to Bar and Bench.
Also read: Kejriwal arrested by CBI in excise policy case, drops plea in SC against Delhi HC’s stay on bail
‘Evasive and non-cooperative’
During the hearing Wednesday, CBI demanded five-day custody of Kejriwal. It told the court that while he was earlier examined on 16 April, his further examination and investigation was required to ascertain his role.
The agency also alleged that when he was examined in Tihar Jail Tuesday, he remained “evasive and non-cooperative”, failing to give satisfactory replies to the questions put to him, as per the court order. The custodial interrogation, CBI therefore said, was necessary for “confronting him with evidence to unearth the larger conspiracy hatched among the accused and suspects regarding formulation and implementation of the excise policy”, said the order.
The remand application further claimed that he is influential and may derail the investigation by tampering with the evidence and influencing witnesses.
On the other hand, Kejriwal’s lawyer pointed out that he was arrested by the CBI only after being granted bail in the PMLA case by judge Niyay Bindu, although this bail was later stayed. He also asked whether there was any necessity to make the arrest at all, after 4 chargesheets had already been filed in the case.
After the hearing, the court ruled, “In view of the factum of investigation leading to the arrest of the accused, the role ascribed to him and the necessity to confront the accused with the evidence in the present case of conspiracy, the present police remand application of the accused is allowed.”
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also read: HC stays bail granted to Kejriwal in Delhi excise case. ‘Trial court has not applied its mind’