“By hook or by crook… he is behind bars” – senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s strong words Wednesday morning in opening skirmishes in the Delhi High Court, which is hearing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s bail plea following his arrest last month by the CBI in the alleged liquor policy scam.
Mr Singhvi told a single-judge bench, of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, the CBI “did not intend to, and did not have any material” to arrest Mr Kejriwal, and slammed the move as an “insurance arrest”.
Arguing for Mr Kejriwal, Mr Singhvi also criticised the CBI for an arrest he said was “in violation of the most overarching fundamental right… of liberty… and procedure established by law.”
“This is an arrest (in case) he comes out… it is an additional insurance arrest,” Mr Singhvi said, pointing out Arvind Kejriwal had “release orders in (his) favour”. The reference was to the Chief Minister being granted bail twice, including the Supreme Court releasing him in May for a month to campaign in the Lok Sabha election. The court then indicated Mr Kejriwal was not a flight risk.
Referring to the twin bail orders – one in May and the other last week – Mr Singhvi said, “The very act of release and re-surrender (Mr Kejriwal returned to jail on June 2, as ordered) shows complete satisfaction of the triple test. The Supreme Court last week thought it fit to release him indefinitely.”
Kejriwal’s “Five Dates” Argument
An irate Mr Singhvi urged the court to keep five dates in mind.
“On August 17, 2022, just under two years ago, the CBI filed a FIR… Mr Kejriwal is not named. On April 14, 2023, he received a summons – as a witness. Less than a year after the FIR.”
“Mr Kejriwal then appears (for questioning) for nine hours on April 16, 2023, two days later.”
“… this was in April, eight months after the FIR. Then, three months of 2024 go by… on March 21, exactly 11 months after recording my interrogation for nine hours… when the MCC (the Model Code of Conduct before the general election) comes into force, I am arrested by the ED…” he explained.
Bail For ED Arrest, Re-Arrest By CBI
Mr Kejriwal was arrested by the CBI – from inside Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court – on June 26, shortly after he was granted bail, by a different bench of the same court, against his arrest in March by a second agency, the ED, or the Enforcement Directorate.
The ED responded hours before he was to be released, filing a plea to block his release; that plea was stayed by the High Court but overruled by the Supreme Court, which ordered his release.
However, given he had already been arrested by the CBI, the AAP leader has remained in jail.
“Back To Square One”: Lawyer On Kejriwal’s Arrest
“Unfortunately for me I am back to square one because of this insurance arrest… because (of) those who want it, by hook or by crook, Arvind Kejriwal is behind bars,” the senior lawyer said.
“Suddenly this man is very important to be interrogated… in June… and taken into custody.”
“Common sense tells you there cannot be any grounds of arrest in this kind of situation,” Mr Singhvi said this morning, adding, “It is clear as daylight that psychological winds of change are growing in CBI’s mind (following the Rouse Avenue Court’s bail order). But I won’t say it is CBI.”
“I would say there are others in whose mind there is psychological change.”
