Excise policy scam: SC refuses interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal in corruption case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to grant interim bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a corruption case filed by the CBI in 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 matter has been posted for hearing on August 23.

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.