Justice Bhuyan questions CBI action in liquor policy case – The Week

The two-member Supreme Court bench that granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had differing views on the CBI’s action in the liquor case. Justice Ujjal Bhuyan termed the arrest unjustified and observed that the central agency had only acted when he was about to be released from Tihar Jail after being granted bail by the ED in a related case.

Hearing Arvind Kejriwal’s objections against his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a liquor policy case and his bail application, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan concurred on the bail issue and ordered his release from Tihar Jail. While Justice Kant observed that the arrest by the CBI could not be termed illegal, Justice Bhuyan questioned the timing of the arrest by the CBI and the reasoning behind it.

In his judgment, Justice Bhuyan observed, “The CBI’s entry raises more questions than it answers. It appears that the CBI took action and demanded the arrest only after the court granted Kejriwal regular bail in the ED case. It did not see the need to arrest him for over 22 months. Such action raises serious questions about the arrest itself,” Live Law reported.

Justice Bhuyan said he did not understand why the CBI was so keen to arrest Kejriwal when he was about to be released from jail after being granted bail in a related ED case. He also observed that the CBI’s reasons for arrest were not justified. “As far as the reasons for arrest are concerned, these would not satisfy the need for arrest. The CBI cannot justify the arrest and further detention with evasive answers. The accused cannot be compelled to give an incriminating statement,” Live Law quoted Justice Kant as saying.

Justice Bhuyan also had a different opinion on the conditions imposed on the Chief Minister of Delhi in attending the office and discharging his official duties, but he did not express the same in the judgment.

“The CBI is a premier investigative agency. It is in the public interest that the CBI is perceived as being supreme. Efforts must be made to remove the perception that the investigation is not being conducted fairly. Perception is important,” Bhuyan noted.

The ED arrested Arvind Kejriwal on March 21 in connection with an alleged scam related to Delhi’s abolished liquor policy. The CBI arrested him from Tihar Jail on June 26 in a Prevention of Corruption case registered in connection with the alleged scam.

The case concerns alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi government’s now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.

The Supreme Court granted bail to Kejriwal in the ED case on July 12, observing that the AAP leader has been in jail for 90 days. However, he had to remain in jail as he was serving a remand in the CBI case. The Supreme Court had also granted interim bail to Kejriwal for his election campaign during the Lok Sabha elections.