Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been granted bail in the liquor policy case. Mr Kejriwal’s lawyer had argued the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had no evidence against him. The ED will file an appeal against the trial court’s order in the Delhi High Court tomorrow, news agency ANI reported.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief is likely to come out of jail tomorrow, as the bail order has to reach the jail first.
His lawyer told the Delhi court that the ED’s entire case against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief rested on statements given by those who turned approver in the case.
The court denied the ED’s request to allow at least 48 hours to sign the bail bond in order for the central agency to challenge it before the relevant court.
“The statements are of those people who have confessed to being guilty. They are not saints here. They are those who are not only tainted, but it appears that some who were arrested were given a promise of bail, and promise of being granted pardon. Approvers. And there is another category who have not been arrested,” Mr Kejriwal’s lawyer had said earlier today, after which the court had reserved its order, only to announce the bail around 8 pm.
“Circumstances have to be so intrinsically linked (as to) lead to the guilt. These statements by tainted persons discredit the case of prosecution. There is no evidence that Rs 100 crore came from ‘South Group’. These are all statements. There is no evidence,” the Chief Minister’s lawyer said, referring to what the ED calls the ‘South Group’, a lobby from Telangana that allegedly conspired to grab liquor licences in the national capital.
The ED arrested Mr Kejriwal on March 21 over money laundering allegations while framing the Delhi liquor policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped after the Lieutenant Governor raised red flags. The ED has alleged the money Mr Kejriwal got from the liquor sellers was used to fund the party’s campaign in Goa, since he is the convenor of the AAP.
Mr Kejriwal and the AAP have from the start maintained the Centre has been misusing its agencies to harass the Opposition with false cases.
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